KINGS’ COACHES PRAISED
Place in final secured after jaw-clenching extra-time win
PROUD EP Kings skipper Darron Nell says sweating blood on the training pitch helped his team find an extra gear. The added push was used effectively to battle through 20 gruelling minutes of extra time before the team were able eventually to subdue the Leopards 32-29 in their Absa Currie Cup first division semifinal.
The game went into overtime after the sides were locked at 22-22 at the end of normal time in front of a spellbound crowd at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday.
“All credit to our coaches who have kept us in top shape this season. This team have character and the last 20 minutes reflected that,” a relieved Nell said.
“We have worked hard all season and have concentrated on fitness. Now it is all paying off.”
Thanks to their dramatic win, the Kings will now travel to the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Friday to play the Pumas in the eagerly awaited First Division final.
The unbeaten Pumas clinched their berth in the showpiece game of the season with a 52-33 win over the SWD Eagles.
Meanwhile, Nell said of the Kings’ success: “We were slow out of the starting blocks in the first half and made many mistakes early on. We spoke about the challenges at halftime and I was very proud of the guys from the 41st minute to the 100th minute.
“The Leopards did very well territorially in the first half and they pinned us back with up and unders. Not catching well cost us.
“They played a game of territory and waited for points but we played much better in the second half under the high ball.”
Nell said his team had not spoken about the possibility of extra-time before the game. “We just wanted to get off to a good start and I do not think we did that.
“We got six points early on then went to lie down a bit. But the boys got together and stuck to their guns and worked hard.
“I think their effort was a tribute to this rugby union and everything that has been happening here.”
Nell said the decision by rugby chiefs last week not to vote the team into an enlarged Currie Cup Premier division had not affected the side’s preparation.
“We do not concentrate on what goes on in the boardroom. For us it is more about what we want to do on the field,” the skipper said.
The never-say-die Leopards forced the game into extra-time when Adriaan Engelbrecht struck his fifth penalty of the evening in the 79th minute to leave the teams level at 22-22 after normal time.
In extra-time neither team man- aged to score in the first period, so leaving everything to play for in the final 10 minutes.
The hero of the night for the Kings was cool-headed fullback Scott van Breda who stepped up in the second period of extra-time to slot his sixth penalty of the evening to give the Kings a 25-22 lead.
Then Kayle van Zyl steadied the nerves of the crowd when he crossed for the Kings’ second try of the evening in the 15th minute of extra-time to secure a berth in the final for the Kings.