Warning to Southern Kings on conceding penalties
IT is vital that the Southern Kings cut back on the penalties they are conceding at the defensive breakdown and scrums if they want to slay the Dragons in Wales on Saturday.
That was the instruction Kings head coach Deon Davids directed at his players as they bid to end a four-game losing streak in the PRO14.
The Kings flew to Europe on Monday for matches against the Dragons in Wales, Benneton in Italy and Glasgow in Scotland.
After his team lost to Italian outfit Zebre at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, Davids said it was not a performance that the Kings could be proud of.
“We go into every game believing we can win it,” he said.
“Our attitude on this tour will be to improve [over] our performance against Zebre.
“We obviously have to relook at our discipline, which was a key thing for me against Zebre.
“We spoke about the number of penalties we concede at the defensive breakdown and also in the scrums. We also have to see where in those areas we need to improve.
“The team will have to revisit our whole approach in terms of our defensive effort. It is also important that when you have a game plan everyone is absolutely clear on that and tries to impose it on the defence.
“Obviously, it is not going to work out for you all the time and it is not as easy as you think.
“Zebre had tremendous line speed on defence, which put us under pressure.
“I also think our decisionmaking in that scenario was wrong because we tried to force stuff when we could have been direct and looked for other areas of space.
“We played 90% of the first half against Zebre in our own half.
“So we have to revisit on how we can make better decisions when we are under those circumstances.
“The coaches have to guide the players in order to enable them to make better decisions if they are exposed to the same scenarios the next time.
“If they are not guided, they will continue making the same mistakes,” Davids said.
Injured flyhalf Kurt Coleman was not among the touring party which left for Europe on Monday.
He was diagnosed with a quadriceps injury that is likely to keep him out of the game for at least four weeks.
New names in the touring party include hooker Tango Balekile, lock Lubabalo Mtyanda, scrumhalf Rowan Gouws and there is also a recall for veteran wing Alshaun Bock.
The Kings are expected to name their team today from the following squad of players: