Kings must pick up pieces fast after defeat – Davids

The Isuzu Southern Kings must pick up the pieces and regroup quickly after they crashed to a heavy 54-14 defeat against Scarlets in Wales on Saturday, Kings head coach Deon Davids says.

After their stunning Guinness PRO14 over Glasgow Warriors in Port Elizabeth last week, hopes had been high that the Kings would be more competitive against the Welsh outfit.

But there is not much time for the Kings to lick their wounds, because they face Italian outfit Benetton Treviso at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo on Saturday.

“We started way too slowly and we had to play catch-up from there,” Davids said.

“In the second half you cannot play rugby without the ball and all credit to Scarlets.

“Tactically they were better than us and they kept the ball for some stages and played their rugby in the right half.

“Scarlets also used their opportunities and we were just a bit slow in this game.

“The Kings did not have the energy that we showed in the win over Glasgow.

“We will now have to recover and rebuild for our next game, against Benetton.”

Scarlets skipper Jonathan Davies marked his return from injury after 11 months with two tries in a bonus-point win over the Kings.

Davies scored twice within the first 25 minutes to help earn victory over the South Africans who were alive and kicking in the contest for an hour.

But Ioan Nicholas’s try just after halftime, created by a typically incisive running line from his captain, broke the back of their challenge and they shipped six tries.

Davies popped up on the left wing, handing off Martin du Toit to score on 10 minutes.

Five minutes later it was 140, Paul Asquith punching a hole in the visiting defence and crossing the whitewash on his first start of the season.

The Kings hit back through former Springbok Bjorn Basson, who was on the end of Du Toit’s raking pass and handed off compatriot Clayton Blommetjies to score.

If he was at all concerned at that stage, coach Wayne Pivac would soon be purring when Davies went over under the posts after a flowing move in the backs.

The visitors remained undeterred, scoring a stunning second which saw them surge forward from a turnover in their own territory and put Basson into the left corner.

Nicholas then found space to run 20m and dot down for the Scarlets’ fourth and bonus-point try.

Home debutant Dan Davis crossed the whitewash among a rolling maul, making it 35-14, with Rhys Patchell again perfect from the tee.

Another strong rolling maul led to the sixth, replacement Simon Gardiner burrowing over, and the try was awarded by the TMO.

Steff Evans also came off the bench and got his name on the scoresheet, latching onto an intelligent inside ball to run a seventh in from 25m.

Kieran Hardy crossed on the game’s final play to cap a memorable night for the Scarlets.