The Southern Kings went beyond the call of duty when they dished up an 82 minute performance against the table topping Australian side the Brumbies on Friday. The Kings scored their bonus point try in the 82nd minute of the game to give them a well deserved draw and 3 log points for their troubles.
Southern Kings Head Coach, Matt Sexton, said: "We’re really happy with the three points. We went out there to match their physicality and make sure that we stop their momentum because they’re a very dangerous side and we did that, we ticked those boxes well and truly,”
Sexton said he was very impressed by the character shown by the side and their ability to play 80 minutes.
Sexton also said the fact that the Kings only had 37% of the possession and were down to 14 men in the 67th minute when Schalk Ferreira was sin binned, shows the heart of the team, their defense and conditioning.
“It’s a massive testament to what the conditioning staff have done over the off season. The strain you get put under when you’re a man down at that late stage, and the guys were still fine. They’re a fit side and they have worked really hard over the off season to get that done, then coupled with some massive defence,” he said.
He also praised Siviwe "Shakes" Soyizwapi for the work he did. Shakes joined the team in Australia after Hadleigh Parkes broke his arm in last weeks game against the Hurricanes but when Elric van Vuuren sprained his ankle during the Captains Run he moved into the starting 15 after there were some doubts over Demetri Catrakilis' knee which forced George Whitehead to move to 10 and gave Shakes a start at 15.
“We had some late changes to things and Shakes came on and played admirably. He was fresh of the plane for us this week so he hasn’t had time to really find his feet, but despite that he played really well,” he said.
Sexton also commended Wimpie van der Walt, whose performance on the field secured him the title of Man of the Match.
“Wimpie had a huge game he inserted himself into a lot of mid sections of Brumbies players tonight and they will all be going off licking their wounds,” he said.
Southern Kings Director of Rugby, Alan Solomons said he was extremely proud of the team and what they had accomplished.
“The thing about us is that we’re not a team of stars, we’re a star team,” he said.
“The identity of the team is character, courage and commitment and that has been built on the back of a potent conditioning and potent defence. The cornerstone of our game is our conditioning and defense,” he said.
Solomons said all credit had to go to the players, who had put on an incredible performance, despite a few mistakes.
“We made mistakes, our discipline was poor and gave away too many key penalties, one of which resulted in a try. Our kick execution from exiting our own half was poor between our tryline and 10m line, and catching the half way kickoffs was poor, which put us under a lot of stress,” he said.
Looking forward to the Rebels game next weekend in Melbourne, Solomons said they were thankful for the eight day turn around, and would not be underestimating the Rebels.
"We are certainly not taking them forgranted. They are a desperate side that is desperate to get their competition back on track and we know it is going to be a tough game”.
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