More Kings bashing from Lee
Cheetahs centre strikes yet again
MARAUDING Cheetahs centre Nico Lee was once again a thorn in the flesh for the Southern Kings when he triggered their downfall for the second time in seven days on Saturday.
After a hat-trick of tries in the opening PRO14 derby between the two sides in Port Elizabeth, Lee was over for two early tries in Bloemfontein to put his team on track for a convincing 45-24 victory.
The Cheetahs, after a strong secondhalf showing at the Free State Stadium, ensured that they had the South African derby bragging rights after winning the opener 45-21 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The win consolidated the Cheetahs’ third-place position on the Conference A log standings, while the winless Kings remained marooned at the bottom of Conference B.
It was a 13th consecutive loss for the Kings who now face three tough away matches against Ulster, Ospreys and Leinster.
The Kings were outscored by six tries to three by the Cheetahs who are gunning for a PRO14 playoff berth thanks to eight wins from their opening 13 matches.
After a frenetic opening half, the Cheetahs led 24-17 and the Kings were still in touching distance of clinching an elusive first PRO14 scalp.
“We are hurting after this one. The Kings went into the second believing that the momentum was with us,” Kings skipper Michael Willemse said.
“Our back three did well for us, but we have to be better out wide at times and hold onto the ball. With the opposition down to 14 men we can’t be kicking the ball away.
“When we have that little sniff, we need to stay composed. The guys tend to get a bit overexcited and we move away from our structures.
“That has been an issue with us for the past couple of weeks. The Cheetahs outplayed us in the second half and we will go back to the drawing board and see where our mistakes were.
“The one thing about this team is that we will never die. There is a lot of spirit and enthusiasm at the Kings and we are still in search of that win and we will keep on fighting,” Willemse said.
As had been the case in Port Elizabeth, the Cheetahs were stirred into action as soon as one of their players were yellow-carded.
In the opening game, the Kings failed to press home their advantage after the Cheetahs were reduced to 13 men.
When Charles Marais and Junior Pokomela were given their marching orders with 10 minutes left, the Cheetahs led 31-14, and the Kings must have harboured hopes of a late comeback.
But the yellow cards inspired the Cheetahs who finished strongly with tries from the industrious Lee and Jacques du Toit.
In Saturday’s clash, the Cheetahs scored twice after wing Craig Barry has been carded by referee Quinton Immelman.
When Barry was binned, the Cheetahs led 31-17, and after he served his 10 minutes in the naughty chair, the Free Staters had extended their lead to 45-17 thanks to tries from the elusive Makazole Mapimpi and Shaun Venter.
It was Mapimpi’s 10th try of the campaign and kept him at the top of the list of leading try scorers in the competition.
The Cheetahs, however, will be without their prolific try machine for the rest of the season as he is joining the Sharks to play Super Rugby. The scorers: Cheetahs 45: Tries: Nico Lee (2), Uzair Cassiem, Ox Nche, Makazole Mapimpi, Shaun Venter. Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (6). Penalty: Zeilinga. Southern Kings 24: Tries: Luzuko Vulindlu, Schalk Ferreira, Tienie Burger. Conversions: Ntabeni Dukisa (2) and Bernhad Janse van Rensburg. Penalty: Dukisa.