Sunday, November 26 will be a red-letter day for the Southern Kings when they host reigning champions, Scarlets, in a GUINNESSPRO14 Championship clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Despite suffering a heavy loss away to the Welshmen in their opening fixture early in September, the Kings come into this match fresh off the back of their best performance of the season – a narrow 36-43 loss to Ulster – and it would be a huge mistake to underestimate the men from the Bay.
Whilst results may not have gone the way of the local franchise yet, the quality of some of their play is reflected in the overall GUINNESS Opta Performance stats that were released after Round 7 of the championship. Hard-working flank Andisa Ntsila, for example, is second on the list of “Total Tackles” made in the competition with a total of 93 – trailing leader Tommy O’ Donnell of Munster by 2. Ntsila also features among the top 10 for “Most Carries” whilst Masixole Banda holds down fourth place in the “Defenders Beaten” and “Most Offloads” categories. Kings captain Michael Willemse, currently recovering from injury, is tie second for “Most Turnovers Won”.
The visitors’ squad is set to include former Kings representative David Bulbring. Another name familiar to South African fans will be that of Werner Kruger.
“The decision to host our previous match at the Wolfson Stadium in KwaZakhele formed part of our broader mission to bring international rugby to all the people of our region and we will continue to explore such opportunities in the future, but for the visit of Scarlets we will return to our traditional home at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium,” said Southern Kings Chief Operations Officer, Charl Crous.
The match against Scarlets will kick off at 3pm on Sunday, 26 November and gates will open at 1pm. Tickets are available online from www.ticketpros.co.za and also from TicketPro outlets.
