Zebre an inspiration for Kings

THOUGH the rugby landscape looks desolate for the Southern Kings right now, they can take heart from the turnaround achieved by the resurgent Italian side Zebre.

Before last night’s PRO14 game against high-flying Leinster in Dublin, the struggling Kings had failed to win any of their opening 15 matches.

When Zebre started out in the old PRO12, they were also the whipping boys of the competition and in an almost identical situation to that of the Kings.

In their debut season Zebre did not win a single match, losing all 22 games they played in the old PRO12 back in the 2012-13 season.

Although they finished the subsequent 2013-14 season bottom once again, their performance was much improved.

It was a momentous day in the Italian club’s history when they finally broke their duck against Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park in round three of the tournament.

It was a season in which they enjoyed four more wins after their Cardiff success, with home victories against the Ospreys, Edinburgh, Cardiff Blues and Italian Rivals Treviso.

They fared somewhat worse in 201415, managing only three victories and finishing bottom of the table for the third season running.

In the 2015-16 seasons they again earned five victories including back to back victories against Treviso and a bonus-point victory against the Newport Gwent Dragons.

They also avoided finishing in last place for the first time.

This season Zebre already have five victories under their belt, including a win over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth in round four of the competition last year.

Head coach Michael Bradley believes Italian rugby finally turned a corner following Zebre’s hard-fought victory over Connacht last week.

It was Zebre’s first victory at the Galway Showgrounds and meant the Italians had achieved a double over the Irish province for the first time in the history of the championship.

This fourth win of the season for the Parma-based club, allowed them to surpass their tally of wins for the last season.

Bradley insists their free-flowing style has been the key.

“If I was a player I’d be enjoying it because we’re not playing one dimensional rugby, we’re not kicking the ball and running after it all day,” he said.

“The coaching staff are saying to the players ‘go back and remember when you used to enjoy the game and not have coaches tell you everything, run and enjoy with the ball in your hand,’ even for numbers one to eight.”

With Benetton setting a club record fifth consecutive win on the weekend after beating the Dragons 18-15, Bradley notes how Italian rugby in general is on the rise.

“It’s changing times in Italian rugby,” he said. “There’s a realisation that the professional game needs to be supported more.”

Bradley also praised the work of Zebre’s president, Andrea Delladonne, in securing stability among the club so that the players can focus on the rugby.

“The bigger battle is off the pitch; on the pitch the commitment from the boys is fantastic. You wonder how they muster up the energy to play and yet they do, all that is very positive for the future of the club.”

“There is a good group of players who do care about the club and do care about playing for Zebre and Italy and want to improve as players”.

The Kings, after their late inclusion in this season’s tournament, were always going to face an uphill battle.

Guaranteed another two years in PRO14, the Kings will have more time to prepare for their second stint the European league and are expected to fare better.

In the meantime they can draw inspiration from how Zebre beat the odds.