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The Southern Kings were a professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They were created in 2009, and had their first match against the British & Irish Lions during their 2009 tour. After competing in Super Rugby in 2013, 2016 and 2017, they joined Pro14 prior to the 2017–18 season, along with the Cheetahs.
For the 2013 season, the Kings' catchment area was made up of the Eastern Cape and parts of the Western Cape, drawing players from 3 provincial unions: namely the , based in Port Elizabeth (representing the southern half of the Eastern Cape), the , based in East London (representing the northern half of the Eastern Cape) and the , based in George (representing the South Western Districts). However, after the South African Rugby Union took over the running of the franchise in November 2015, the franchise had no formal ties to any of the provincial unions.
The team was disbanded in September 2020 after going into voluntary liquidation.
They also played in the 2011 IRB Nations Cup, where they participated as the South African Kings. They won all three their games, beating , and on their way to winning the competition.
The South African Rugby Union were undeterred in their effort to bring Super Rugby to the Eastern Cape and on 27 January 2012, they confirmed that the Kings would participate in the 2013 Super Rugby season. Despite no initial decision as to how they will be accommodated in the competition, it was confirmed on 16 August 2012 that the Kings would take part at the expense of the . They also announced that two-legged promotion/relegation play-off series would be played between the lowest-placed South African side in Super Rugby and the non-participating franchise every season.
The Kings' top try scorer in the competition was Wimpie van der Walt, who got six tries and their top points scorer was Demetri Catrakilis, who scored 151 points. However, despite three victories and a draw, the Kings finished bottom of the South African Conference and had to play a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off series against the . The Lions beat the Kings 26–19 in Port Elizabeth in the first leg, but bounced back to emerge victorious in Johannesburg, with Scott van Breda scoring 18 points in a 23–18 victory. However, this was not enough to retain their Super Rugby status, as the Lions won 44–42 on aggregate to return them to Super Rugby in 2014 at the expense of the Kings.
On 4 September 2013, SANZAAR boss Greg Peters confirmed that South Africa would get a sixth Super Rugby franchise from 2016, as the competition expanded once again. This was reiterated in 2014 when SANZAR confirmed that the competition would expand to 18 teams, with teams from Argentina and Japan joining the competition.
Having lost the promotion/relegation play-off to the , the Kings missed out on Super Rugby in 2014. They also agreed to sit out the 2015 season by withdrawing from the proposed promotion/relegation match at the end of 2014. In exchange, the were guaranteed participation in the 2014 and 2015 Currie Cup competitions, intended to aid the team's preparation for a return to Super Rugby in 2016.
Their return to Super Rugby was beset by financial problems, with players' salaries being paid late in four consecutive months between August and November 2015. In November 2015, the South African Rugby Union took control of the Southern Kings franchise and revealed an operational plan on 4 December 2015; the plan included the appointment of coach Deon Davids as the head coach for 2016, the identification of a fully transformed squad that they intended signing and a guarantee to pay the Southern Kings' staff and players.
The Kings started the 2017 Super Rugby season on a losing note, with a 26–39 defeat to the in Port Elizabeth. They secured their first away win for four years in their next match, winning 37–23 against the in Singapore, but followed that up by three consecutive defeats on home soil, against the , and respectively. They lost to the and in their opening two matches of their tour, but bounced back by beating the 26–24 in Sydney. They secured their highest victory margin in their next match, winning 44–3 against the in Port Elizabeth, before securing their first ever victory over South African opposition, beating the Sharks 35–32. After losing to the and the Lions in their next two matches, they secured 31–30 away wins to the and the in their next two, before ending their campaign with a 20–21 defeat to the in Bloemfontein. Their record of six wins and nine losses saw them finish bottom of the Africa 2 Conference, fifth in the South African Group – ahead of local rivals the Bulls and Cheetahs – and 11th overall. Lionel Cronjé topped their scoring charts, finishing on 136 points for the season, the fourth-highest in the competition, while winger Makazole Mapimpi scored 11 tries, a new seasonal and all-time record for the Kings and the joint-third highest in the competition.
This announcement came too late to ensure squad continuity, with more than 30 players leaving the franchise. On 15 August 2017 – a fortnight before the competition started – the Kings announced that head coach Deon Davids extended his contract to lead the team in their Pro14 season, and also announced the first batch of player signings. With the team having just four training sessions and no pre-season matches going into the season, they suffered a 10–57 defeat to reigning champions Scarlets, before another loss to Irish side Connacht Rugby. They played their first Pro14 match on home soil the following week against Leinster Rugby, losing their third match in a row with the Irish side winning 31–10. After another home defeat to Italian side Zebre, the Kings embarked on another tour of Europe, but was again whitewashed, losing to the Dragons, Benetton Rugby and Glasgow Warriors. Their results showed a slight upturn upon their return to home soil; despite losing 36–43 defeat to Ulster Rugby, the Kings picked up their first log points of the season – one for a seven-point defeat and one for scoring at least four tries – and repeated their bonus point haul in their next match, a 30–34 defeat to Scarlets. The Southern Kings failed to kick on from the narrow defeats, and lost to Edinburgh Rugby home and away, before another two defeats in their double-header derby matches against the , losing 21–45 in Port Elizabeth and 24–45 in Bloemfontein. They started their three-match tour of the northern hemisphere with a 10–59 loss to Ulster Rugby and continued their winless run with a 12–26 loss to the and a record 7–64 defeat to in Dublin. The Southern Kings started their run of five consecutive home matches to end the season in spectacular fashion, beating Welsh side the 45–13 to record their first ever win in the competition. It proved to be their only victory of the season, as they finished with a narrow four consecutive losses, going down 35–36 to , 22–39 to , 12–45 loss to the and 20–29 in their final match against the .
In August 2018, car manufacturer Isuzu announced a deal to sponsor the Southern Kings for the next three seasons, resulting in the team officially being rebranded as the Isuzu Southern Kings. In addition, Isuzu partnered with a consortium of black business people to purchase equity in the Southern Kings, making the team the first black-owned rugby franchise in South Africa. On the field, the Kings started with a 16–32 defeat to and a 22–27 defeat to the on their early-season European tour. They returned to Port Elizabeth to suffer a 7–28 defeat to , but bounced back in their next match, beating Scottish side 38–28 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The Kings though would only go onto win one further game that season, defeating Edinburgh Rugby 38–28 in January 2019, while they would also draw against the Dragons RFC in April as they finished in last place in Conference B. In March 2019, it was confirmed that a 74 percent share of the team had been purchased by a group of private individuals, with the side coming under private ownership for the first time since 2015.
In June 2019, head coach Deon Davids departed the club, with Robbi Kempson taking over interim charge in August. The Kings remained in Conference B for the season, beginning the season with five defeats before beating the Ospreys in November. The Kings would then go onto lose a further 7 matches, remaining bottom of Conference B, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought about the suspension of the season.
| 7th |
| 7th |
| 7th |
| 15th |
| 17th |
| 11th |
| 2009 British & Irish Lions tour | |
| Champions | |
| 2013 Super Rugby relegation play-off | Relegated |
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