Kings told dig deep

DEFIANT Southern Kings captain Michael Willemse says his team must lift their heads and start believing in themselves if they want to snap a four-match Pro14 losing streak.

The feisty hooker, who said the team were hurting after their 43-17 defeat against Zebre, has the tough task of galvanising the Kings after their poor start to the season.

“We targeted the game against Zebre and we wanted to do well,” said Willemse.

“The Kings are going to have to pull together as a team and hopefully we can put it together and turn it around against Dragons in our next game.”

He also warned that the things will only get tougher for the Kings over the next three weeks on their European tour where they face Dragons, Benneton and Glasgow.

“We are not just here to fill gaps and the team really want to compete. It has to come from within the groups and we have to lift our heads,” said Willemse.

“That is the key for us and we are doing well at times and we have the ability. The Kings have to try and stay as positive as possible and it is not going to get any easier we need to stick together as a group and hopefully we can do that.

“I believe in my boys and there is a huge amount of talent in the group. We are not going to lie down and we will keep fighting and hopefully we can make a change.”

The Kings leaked six tries against Zebre and Willemse says his team were hurting after the heavy home loss.

The captain also echoed the call from head coach Deon Davids who wants the Kings to change their attitude.

“Zebre put a lot of pressure on us and I don’t think our attitude was there in the first half. We need to play more with the ball and not give away those penalties that put us into our own half. That kept the pressure on us.

“We need to make a collective agreement as a team because the coaches are putting in hard work behind the scenes. As players we need to buy in,” said Willemse.

Davids said: “Attitude is something that the players need to bring. That is something that is a core ingredient of a good defence irrespective of your systems.”

The Kings flew to Europe yesterday and injured flyhalf Kurt Coleman was not among the touring party.

Coleman was diagnosed with a quadriceps injury that is likely to keep him out of the game for at least four weeks.