Search on for deputy to help Davids at the wheel

A NEW right-hand man to assist Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids is urgently required before the Pro14 season kicks off in September.

After the Kings’ last game against the Cheetahs, it was announced that forwards coach Barend Pieterse was leaving the franchise to link up with the Canon Eagles in Japan.

Pieterse was a vital link in the Kings chain and took over as head coach for a match when Davids was unable to travel to Europe last season.

The players always spoke highly of the Pieterse, and his presence will be missed as the Kings bid to recover from their disastrous debut Pro14 season.

Analyst Sean O’Dea has also left the franchise, and he is another key member of the backroom staff that will need to be replaced.

The Kings could win only one of their 21 matches last season, and a big step up will be required for the team to be competitive.

While many of the Pro14 teams have an extensive coaching staff, the Kings relied on Davids, Pieterse (forwards) and Chumani Booi (backline) to prepare the team.

Booi arrived at the Kings to replace Vuyo Zangqa, who took up a coaching position in Germany before the Pro14 kicked off last season.

Former Springbok flyhalf and SA Rugby’s acting high performance manager, Louis Koen, assisted the Kings as a consultant occasionally.

Davids says many people overlooked the fact that he lost 50% of his staff after Super Rugby.

“I am sitting with some challenges and I am losing some staff. People focus on the players we lost after Super Rugby, but I also lost 50% of my staff.

“Our attack coach [Dave Williams] went to the Cheetahs, and we also lost our doctor [Konrad von Hagen] and analyst [Lindsay Weyer] to the Springboks.

“I will have to address that because you have to have quality people around you. I am happy with the job people have done, but we can also make a step up,” said Davids.

The Kings have named a provisional 29-man for the Pro14 that included Fijian utility player Meli Rokoua.

Apart from Rokoua, the other new players in the squad are locks JC Astle and Schalk Oelofse and scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius.

Compared to last season, when the team was hastily assembled, Davids will have much longer to prepare his troops this time.

Several key players, including Kings skipper Michael Willemse have been retained, and that will ensure some continuity in the team.

There had been talk at the end of last season that hooker Willemse was set to leave the Kings to join English Premiership team Wasps.