Kings will not be spent Force
Defence is key to turn the tide
WARY head coach Deon Davids is expecting the Southern Kings to face tough defensive challenges from solid setpieces on their Australian Super Rugby tour.
The Kings kick off their visit to Australia with what could be a season defining clash against a struggling Western Force team in Perth on Sunday (kick-off 8.05am).
So far the Force have only managed to win one of their opening five matches and are one of the teams facing the cut if Super Rugby bosses decide to trim the league next year.
The Kings have leaked 20 tries in their opening five games, and Davids will demand much sharper defence against Australian opposition.
“The Australian teams bring different challenges from good setpieces,” said Davids.
“They also have creative launches from setpieces. The Australians also have tall outside backs, who execute their plans with pace and excellent running lines and who also understand the kicking game very well.”
Davids said his team would prepare for the Perth clash in the same way as they had for their earlier games.
“We will approach it as any other game, with the emphasis on executing better in the areas that was of concern against the Lions.
“We want to ensure that we rectify the lessons learned in the previous five games, and that we make much better use of the opportunities that might come our way.”
In their last game the Force went down fighting at Eden Park when the Blues won 24-15.
Force captain Matt Hodgson said he was proud of his team’s effort, but disappointed in how they allowed the Blues to counter-attack them.
“I thought we played some good rugby against the Blues,” he said. “But we aren’t happy with those defensive lapses from a long way out.
“Mentally we dropped off a bit in the first half and allowed them to get back in the game when we went down a man and they made the most of that momentum.”
After their game against the Force the Kings will have matches against Queensland Reds in Brisbane (April 15) and the Waratahs in Sydney on April 21. The Kings touring squad is: Forwards: Props: Chris Heiberg, Schalk van der Merwe, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Justin Forwood, and Ross Geldenhuys
Hookers: Kurt Haupt, Martin Bezuidenhout, and Michael Willemse
Locks: Irne Herbst, Mzwanele Zito and Wilhelm van der Sluys
Loose-forwards: Andisa Ntsila, Chris Cloete and Ruaan Lerm Utility forward: Tyler Paul Backline: Scrumhalves: Ricky Schroeder, Johan Steyn and Louis Schreuder
Flyhalves: Lionel Cronje and Pieter-Steyn de Wet
Wings: Makazole Mapimpi and Yaw Penxe
Centres: Berton Klaasen and Waylon Murray Fullback: Malcolm Jaer Utility backs: Luzuko Vulindlu and Masixole Banda