‘Kings show sprouts of progress’
Despite their struggle to get wins under their belt, the Isuzu Southern Kings are showing the green shoots of progress, Connacht coach Andy Friend said.
Friend was talking after his team beat the Kings 24-12 in a Guinness PRO14 showdown at the Sportsground in Galway.
“Compliments to the Southern Kings,” Friend said.
“I think under head coach Robbi Kempson and his coaching staff the Kings are building.
“We saw that in the Kings’ first away win against the Ospreys a few weeks ago.
“They were definitely a physical team out there against us.
“You can see they are a young team who are growing and that is because of what their coaching staff are doing at the moment.”
It was a sixth defeat in seven outings for the Kings in Galway and left Kempson with much to ponder ahead of his team’s end-of-year break.
After leaving the Showgrounds empty-handed, the Kings remained rooted to the bottom of Conference B in the Guinness PRO14.
The Kings will next be action on January 4 when they face Edinburgh in Scotland.
“Physically we got stuck in and that is exactly what we wanted. The team wanted to show some passion and pride,” Kempson said.
While the Kings are on a break, Connacht are preparing for back-to-back Champions Cup fixtures against Gloucester.
Having banked five points, Connacht were given two days to “relax, refresh, and reset” before travelling to the English premiership venue where they have had no luck in the past.
The eight-day turnaround is especially beneficial for what Friend described as a “massive” challenge in Kingsholm, coming after a home victory against Montpellier and the recent tough defeat to pool favourites Toulouse in France.
“We are there or thereabouts. Our Champions Cup will depend on who wins next weekend.
“If we get an away win, then we are very much in the hunt here, and if we don’t do that I think we might possibly have kissed goodbye to it,” Friend said.