Kings coach not happy despite win
HEAD coach Deon Davids said he was not happy with the showing of the Southern Kings after errors marred a 42-24 win over the SWD Eagles in a Super Rugby warm-up on Saturday.
The Kings led 28-12 at half time at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in a clash that dished up 10 tries but failed to provide the continuity Davids had been looking for.
He will also be concerned that his defence was breached four times by the Eagles in his team’s last friendly before the new Super Rugby tournament kicks off.
It was a second win of the season for the Kings and followed their 28-10 win over the Border Bulldogs in their opening warm-up of the season in East London.
The try scorers for the Kings were Alshaun Bock, Mike Willemse, Andisa Ntsila, Makazole Mapimpi, Malcom Jaer, and there was also a penalty try.
The new rules meant that the penalty try was worth seven points without the need for a conversion to be taken.
Davids made it clear that hard work lies ahead of the Kings before they tackle the Jaguares in their opening Super Rugby match in Port Elizabeth on February 25.
“I am not very happy with this performance. I think there are too many simple errors. We could not to get continuity and the conditions were difficult out there,” Davids said after the surface greased up after rain.
“But it was like that for both teams and I think we could have handled it a bit better. There were also some positives and I think the scrums were very good and at times our mauling went well. However, we just could not get rhythm.
“We will have to put a lot of effort into our exit plays from kickoff receipt and I don’t think we handled the aerial ball well.
“The team also did not kick out well enough and those are areas we need to work on.”
Scorers: Southern Kings 42: Tries: Alshaun Bock, Mike Willemse, Andisa Ntsila, Makazole Mapimpi, Malcom Jaer, Penalty try (worth seven points under new rules, no conversion taken). Conversions: Lionel Cronje (4), Pieter-Styen De Wet (1). SWD Eagles 24: Tries: Charles Radebe, Janneman Stander, Boela Abrahams, Freginald Africa. Conversions: Johnny Welthagen, Leegan Moos.