Kings up against it – on and off pitch
THERE will be a few South Africans cheering for Australia’s Brumbies when they face the Southern Kings at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday night.
More than 20 000 fans are expected at the stadium to see if the Kings can make it four Super Rugby wins on the bounce against the Australians.
Brumbies scrumhalf De Wet Roos is returning to the land of his birth and is hoping to play a major part in front of family and friends who are attending the clash.
“I have about 15 family members travelling down to the game,” said Roos.
“There are a few coming from Johannesburg, Pretoria and a few in the Free State that will be coming down to support the Brumbies and not the Kings, which will be nice for us to have some support at the venue. Hopefully they are loud enough so we can hear them!”
Roos has settled in well to life at the top level following his call-up to the Brumbies after the untimely injury suffered by Argentinean Tomas Cubelli in pre-season.
“It was always a dream of mine but I never thought that it would happen,” he said. “It’s good being back in the motherland and to play rugby in front of my family will be special.
“If you are little boy in SA you are always aspiring to become a Bok and play rugby for your local club side.
“In this game we probably need to switch over to our more attacking mind-set when we have made a break, to become that little bit more ruthless when we get opportunities. We must say to ourselves that we will come away with a try and be composed in that area.
“Whilst we often could come away with three points, from a spectacle point of view, people want to see tries scored, and so do we. We have been looking to rectify that this week.
“We defend well. I think the tries we have given away have been off turnovers, we need to make sure our attack matches that,” said Roos.