The Southern Kings were hugely disappointing in their match against the Hurricanes in Wellington this morning, not because of the 46 - 30 scoreline but in the way they let themselves down in crucial stages of the game.
The Hurricanes started off pretty much as the Crusaders last week, running everything at the Kings and looking to score as many tries as possible in 80 minutes. It took them just short of 3 minutes to score their first try through Ben May, converted by Beauden Barrett. The Hurricanes managed to score a further 5 tries, with Barrett adding 16 points through 5 conversions and 2 penalties.
It was again up to the reliable boot of Demetri Catrakilis as he has done in every game to keep the Kings in the contest. The Kings however did score 3 of their own tries through Steven Sykes, Ronnie Cooke and Hannes Franklin.
Sykes had he big smile on his face when he dotted down the first of the Kings 3 tries, realising its probably the easiest try he will ever score. The Kings were on the Hurricanes try line when someone left the gate wide open for Sykes to stroll in for his first try in a Kings jersey.
Cooke was on the receiving end after a good back line move. The ball went through a couple of hands, he received the final pass from Jacques Engelbrecht to go over in the corner for his teams second try.
Hannes Franklin was rewarded with his first try in his first Super Rugby match for the Kings. Franklin who returned to the playing field after injuring his knee before the start of the Super Rugby season came on off the bench after he replaced Bandise Maku in the second half.
The Hurricanes had too much momentum in the contact situation and gained 5 to 10 meters at every tackle, the Kings need to be more aggressive when they making those tackles, something they did very well in their first two matches against the Force and the Sharks.
They lost a few line outs due to not throwing straight, something you cant afford to do at this level. They looked good with the pick and drive and setting up phases but they need the forwards to clean quicker ball to get to the backline, an area where the Brumbies could dominate next weekend.
Another area they need to work on is to keep more ball, something Alan Solomons and Matt Sexton mentioned in the last two games. They give possession away too easy through kicks where they should rather back themselves and run at the opposition.
There is nothing wrong with kicking a ball into your opponents 22 to set up a line out to put the pressure back on them, that is essentially where you want to play, but senseless grubbers and up and unders with no real plan is not good enough. This is unfortunately not only the Kings but we see it too often from all our South African sides.
There were a few players that put their hands up this morning, both Steven Sykes and Andries Strauss had big games and Demetri Catrakilis had another good kicking game, but the player that impressed me the most was Ronnie Cooke. Cooke is growing in confidence with every game, he is backing himself with ball in hand and his defense is rock solid in the mid field. It was also great to see him score a try for all his hard work.
The Kings let themselves down tonight, they should have done more at the start of the second half when the Hurricanes lost a bit of concentration. Their defense is not as aggressive as it should be and they should back themselves with ball in hand, rather make mistakes when trying to do something then to make mistakes without trying.
Maybe i'm expecting too much of the Kings too soon, but they have the potential to be more then just a poor side replacing another poor side.
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