Powerhouse first half earns Kings a deserved Pro14 win

22 September 2018 - 17:30 By KHANYISO TSHWAKU
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Irishmen came and conquered Centre Noel Reid, left, scored the first five points for Leinster while fullback Masixole Banda kicked a penalty for Southern Kings.
Irishmen came and conquered Centre Noel Reid, left, scored the first five points for Leinster while fullback Masixole Banda kicked a penalty for Southern Kings.
Image: Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images

A change of venue proved to be life giving for the Southern Kings, who recorded an impressive 38-28 victory against the Glasgow Warriors at the Nelson Mandela University Stadium.

In bright sunshine, the Kings tightened up from last week's disappointing loss against Ulster at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium to register their first win of the 2018/19 Pro14 campaign. They also collected a bonus point in the process.

Things did not start very well when fullback Masixole Banda missed a straightforward penalty in the fourth minute but the hosts scored three tries in 13 minutes to steal a serious march on the Warriors.

The Kings' first try came from Yaw Penxe in the sixth minute, who was on the end of a regulation but flowing backline move that caught the visitors short on defence.

Martin du Toit's 10 minute try needed the intervention of the television match officials to check the grounding but it was a well deserved try.

The Kings were patient in their build-up and allowed themselves to pick their moment to exploit a gap when it availed itself.

With the hosts also applying defensive pressure, it came as no surprise when Rudi van Rooyen's 19 minute try was a direct result of their defensive excellence.

The Warriors may have gorged themselves silly in last week's 50-point win against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein but when they went forward they were reasonably dangerous.

However, the Kings were resolute, even they were down to 14 men in the 27 minute when Penxe was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle.

When Banda added a penalty on the stroke of half-time, they had a deserved 24-0 lead, which they extended to 31-0 when outside centre Harlon Klaasen scored a superb long-range try in the 56 minute.

The Kings' joy was short-lived when loose-forward Henry Brown was yellow-carded in the 59 minute for a cynical offence.

While the Kings' scrum held firm for the better part of the first half, the Warriors were ascendant in the second half.

It was from a scrum where the Warriors scored their first try by inside centre Nick Grigg on the hour mark.

Left wing DTH van der Merwe added the visitors second try four minutes with the point source of the touchdown being the scrum.

When Brown returned, the Kings caught a proper wake-up with a full complement and rediscovered their poise and patience.

Their regained structure allowed them to score their fifth try through flyhalf Du Toit in the 72 minute to sew up the game.

Replacement hooker Fraser Brown and van der Merwe scored late tries but there was too much ground to be made up.

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