The Cheetahs left Port Elizabeth with not only 5 points but also left the Southern Kings with two injuries. The Cheetahs scored one first half and three second half tries to secure a 34 - 22 bonus point win to keep them in the run for a play off spot. Cheetahs are currently second in the South African Conference, five points behind the Bulls and fourth on the over all log.
Southern Kings Director of Rugby, Alan Solomons confirmed that both Siyanda Grey and Steven Sykes will miss the match against the Stormers in Cape Town this coming Saturday. Grey left the field in the 54th minute while Sykes stayed on due to all the replacements allready being on the field.
“Siyanda has a hamstring injury and will be out for three weeks, while Sykes has sustained a shoulder injury that will see him out for four weeks,” he said.
The match was evenly spread out through both halves despite a period half way through the second half where the Kings let their guard down in which the Cheetahs scored three tries to add to their first half try. Johan Sadie scored on half time and Piet van Zyl, Willie le Roux and Sadie scored the second half tries. The Kings had to wait until the 79th minute to score their only try of the match through replacement scrumhalf Nicolas Vergallo.
Kings had 48% of the possession and 46% of the territory, spending 3:05 in Cheetahs 22 compared to their 3:16 spend in Kings 22. Kings were strong in the line outs winning all their throws and taking one against a Cheetah throw.
The Kings made 497 meters from their 97 runs compared to the Cheetahs 655 meters from 106 runs. Both teams were poor on the defense, Kings only managed 76% of their tackles and the Cheetahs only 78%. Kings forced 10 turnovers compared to the 13 from the Cheetahs.
Wimpie van der Walt was once again outstanding on defense with 14 tackles from 15 attempts, Luke Watson also made 15 tackles from 16 attempts. Kevin Buys also missed one tackle, 10 from 11. Andries Strauss made the most meters with ball in hand for the Kings, 76, followed by SP Marias with 43 meters and Shane Gates with 42. Andries Strauss hit the most rucks/mauls for the Kings, 9, followed by Bandise Maku and SP Marais with 7 each.
With Grey unavailable for selection against the Stormers the Kings can possibly look at Micheal Killian to add some speed to the backline and linking up with SP Marais might just add that spark to the backline. The Kings rely heavily on their pack of forwards and with an opportunity 5 meters out will easily drive any pack over their own try line, this is where an extra ball carrier will come in handy and a player like Daniel Adongo comes to mind. Adongo being strong and aggressive with ball in hand and ruthless on defense can just add momentum to the Kings pack when they face the Stormers in Cape Town this weekend.
Shane Gates made 42 metres in something between 20 to 30 minutes on the field. Maybe Shane Gates at 12 and Andries Strauss at 13 isn't a bad idea, we need someone creative at 12 and maybe Shane can give us that. Until we make the adjustment, we'll struggle on attack
ReplyDeleteHe replaced Grey in the 57th minute, and his 42 m came from only 3 carries
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