On Saturday 11 March, the Southern Kings played host to the Stormers from Cape Town in their third game of the 2017 Super Rugby season. The last time these two sides met, the Stormers ran a 52-24 victory over the Kings in Newlands.
On Saturday 11 March, the Southern Kings played host to the Stormers from Cape Town in their third game of the 2017 Super Rugby season. The last time these two sides met, the Stormers ran a 52-24 victory over the Kings in Newlands.
The Kings were hoping to continue their form from the previous round, which saw them come home from Singapore with a 37-23 victory against the Sunwolves. The conditions in Port Elizabeth were perfect for a 3 o’clock kickoff. Clear skies and warm conditions would result in an exciting afternoon of rugby.
The Kings struck first through the boot of Lionel Cronje, who slotted a penalty over taking the hosts to a 3-0 lead. The hosts came out firing in the first half, forcing the Stormers to make errors in their own half.
After a period of multiple turnovers, however, the Stormers eventually opened their scoring with a long ranged try from Dyllin Leyds, who broke through several tackle attempts to cross over in the corner. Robert du Preez missed the conversion, resulting in a narrow 3-5 lead for the visitors.
The visitors struck again as a result of some poor defensive structure from the Kings. EW Viljoen made the break on the halfway line, and after some slick passing, eventually put Bjorn Basson in the corner for the try. Robert du Preez made no mistake in converting this time, taking the Stormers to a 3-12 lead.
The Stormers continued to apply pressure to the Kings defence, which showed a large number of cracks. After some frenetic handling, the Stormers crossed over the whitewash again, this time through Rynhardt Elstadt. Du Preez missed this conversion as well, and the hosts were now behind by 3-17.
As the Halftime hooter sounded, the Stormers gave away a penalty on the Kings tryline, which Cronje kicked into touch without tapping it first, meaning that the lineout had to be taken. After the Kings won the lineout, they mauled the ball into touch, and the first half ended. The visitors held their 3-17 lead at half time.
The Stormers showed their intentions early in the second half, as they turned down a shot at the posts from a penalty in a kickable position, opting to go for the line instead. They failed to turn this opportunity into points, as the Kings turned the ball over and cleared their lines.
Moments later, however, the Stormers crashed over the line from the counter attack. Robert du Preez scored and converted the try, which took the visitors to a 3-24 lead in the first five minutes of the second half.
The Kings failed to build real momentum on attack, as they often spilled the ball in contact during promising phases. Both sides’ handling left much to be desired, as the dry conditions could not be blamed for the large number of handling errors.
The Kings eventually ran in their first try after some great attacking play put Makazole Mapimpi over in the corner. Lionel Cronje continued his kicking form, converting the try and reducing the deficit to 10-24.
The Stormers continud to dominate in the scrums and were awarded a scrum penalty in the Kings’ 22m. Du Preez made no mistake in converting the easy penalty, increasing their lead to 10-27.
The Kings failed yet again to turn promising attacking play into points, as a great counter attacking break from Kurt Haupt ended as the Kings knocked the ball on over the tryline.
Late in the match, the Stormers once again broke through the defence of the Kings through Kurt Coleman who passed inside putting Justin Phillips under the posts. Coleman slotted the conversion, as the visitors extended their lead to 10-34.
The Stormers continued to attack the Kings line, and the continued pressure put EW Viljeon over the whitewash. Coleman converted again. The Kings won the kickoff, but were bundled into touch shortly afterwards. The final whistle blew with the score ending Kings 10-41 Stormers.
Scorers:
Kings:
Tries: Makazole Mapimpi
Conversions: Lionel Cronje
Penalties: Lionel Cronje
Yellow cards:
Red cards:
Stormers:
Tries: Dillyn Leyds, Bjorn Basson, Rynhardt Elstadt, Robert du Preez, Justin Phillips, EW Viljoen
Conversions: Robert du Preez x2, Kurt Coleman x2
Penalties: Robert du Preez
Yellow cards:
Red cards:
