Kings no spent force by any shakes

WITH better preparation the Southern Kings will start climbing up the Pro14 ladder next season, Benetton coach Kieran Crowley has predicted.

The former New Zealand fullback made the assessment after his team scored a narrow 36-35 win over the Kings at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

“The Kings have had a massive season going start from Super Rugby in the Pro14,” said Crowley.

“After Super Rugby, the Kings lost a lot of players and they did not have a proper preparation. In their games they have had patches of some really good stuff.

“I think they were outstanding in the second half of their game against the Dragons. They have got some real pace out at the back with guys that can step and they can cause trouble for anyone.

“Once they get through this season and then get a good pre-season, they will climb up the ladder and they will always be a challenging team.”

Crowley said he was not happy with his team’s defensive effort which saw them leak five tries during a 10-try extravaganza.

“Both teams will look at it as game that could have gone either way at the end. We got a couple of pretty soft tries early, then we gave up a few soft tries.

“From a defensive point of view, both teams won’t be that happy with how they went. But I am happy with progress we are making. I think we would have lost this game last year.

“As soon as either side got into the 22 they seemed to score. There was not much in the game.”

Crowley said Italian rugby players needed to work much harder on their fitness after he rested some Test players for the Port Elizabeth clash.

“It is same each year and we had 20 players away with national team,” he said.

“They have just been at the Six Nations and those games are pretty brutal . The Italians still have a little way to go around fitness.

“They are nowhere near where they should be and they play those Six Nations games and they get pretty beaten up. So I gave some players the week off.”

The Kings will be bidding for their Pro14 second win when they face Munster in George on April 7.

After the Munster clash, the Kings’ final games are at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium against Cardiff Blues (April 14) and the Cheetahs (April 27).