The last time these two teams met a fortnight ago, it was a case of "close, but no victory cigar" for the EP Kings as the Cell C Sharks held on to an eight point win in their Round 2 encounter at Kingspark in Durban.
The team from Port Elizabeth stun the Kingspark faithful when flyhalf George Whitehead crossed the whitewash to score the first try of the match as he gave his team a 5 - 3 lead after twelve minutes. The Kings scored another five pointer through Tim Agaba on half-time, but not before the Sharks added two tries and a penalty of their own. Unfortunately for the Kings they missed out on seven first half points as reliable goalkicker Scott van Breda missed an early penalty and two conversions to trail 10 - 18 at the break.
The Kings came out guns blazing in the second half as they scored two tries in quick succession and a conversion, to take a 22 - 18 lead after forty seven minutes. The first through Steven Sykes and the second through scrumhalf Enrico Acker. With van Breda slightly off target, the kicking duties were handed to try scorer Whitehead who converted one of the tries.
The Kings held on to a four point lead as the match reached the final quarter, but the Sharks never gave up as they replied with two tries and a conversion to snatch the game out the hands of the visitors, and in doing so denying them a second bonus point for coming within seven points, as the game ended 33 - 25 to the home side.
Since then the Kings have played the Pumas in a two point thriller that came down to the wire at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium last week. A late penalty in the second half secured a 15 - 13 win for the visitors.
Eastern Province head coach, Brent Janse Van Rensburg has largely stuck with his starting XV opting for minimal changes and the continuity has paid off, as there's been much improvement since their 51 - 14 defeat in their Round 1 opener against the Golden Lions.
In their last two matches the Kings have scored 38 points and conceded 48, they have also scored 5 tries, picking up a bonus point as they scored 4 against the Sharks, and conceded 4.
The Kings, however, is still in search of their first win of the season and fans, players and coaching staff alike will be hoping it comes sooner rather than later.
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