After starting this week with the news that the Currie cup Premier
Division will not be expanding to 8 teams to include the Pumas and the
Kings the Kings needed to end the week on a high and give their fans
something to cheer about, and so they did...
This weekend started with all of the Kings Currie Cup teams competing in Semi-final matches of the 1st Division. The Friday kicked off with the u19 team taking on Boland in Wellington and coming home with a 45 - 30 victory. This was followed by the curtain raiser for the main game, the u21 team who beat Griquas 44 -21 in the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth.
The evening was then capped with a tightly contested match by our Senior team against the Leopards. The Kings who started the game poorly trailed at halftime 9-16. After an improved second half performance teh Kings managed to take the lead at one stage and the full time score ended level at 19-all and the game went into extra time (2 halves of 10 minutes each). Both teams scored penalties in the first half of extra time as the scores remained level at 22-all at the time of the short halftime break. In the second half of extra time the Kings started to show some composure by keeping the ball and play the game in the right areas of the field. They where rewarded with a converted try and a penalty putting them 10 points in the lead with only a few minutes to go and at that stage the game seamed to be in the bag. A late try by the Leopards however got them within striking distance to the Kings and after a few stressful minutes at the end of the game the Kings finally came out victors 32 - 29 as George Whitehead kicked the ball into touch.
All three teams have won their Semi-finals and will now go to the home of the Pumas, The Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, next week to compete in their respective finals. Times of the matches are still to be confirmed but the opposition teams are already known. The u19 team will take on the Valke while the u21 team will face Boland.
The day will be ended by the main event when the two form teams of the 1st Division clash as the Kings (who ended 2nd on the log) take on the Pumas (who ended 1st on the log). During the season everyone knew that the final was always going to be a final showdown between the Pumas and the Kings. The Pumas being the more consistent of the teams won both round matches and at home are the favourites to win the match and take the title, the Kings with a youthful and inexperienced side however had an up-and-down season and showed that they are capable of producing some brilliant performances of their own. This match is going to be epic and not to be missed.
SCORERS: (please note this information was obtained from social media and could be incorrect)
U 19 - Scorer details : EP Kings vs Boland
Conversion: Selvyn Davids 6
Penalty: Alex Basil Banfield 1
Try: Alex Basil Banfield 1
Try: Juandre Fourie 1
Try: Khaya Malotana 1
Try: Selvyn Davids 1
Try: Sergeal Petersen 2
U21 scorers - EP Kings vs Griquas
Conversion: Gavin Hauptfleisch 1
Conversion: Ruan Allerston 4
Penalty: Ruan Allerston 3
Try: Siviwe Soyizwapi 1
Try: Wayven Smith x4
Senior scores - EP Kings vs Leopards
Conversions: Scott van Breda (2)
Penalties: Scott van Breda (6)
Try: Tim Agaba
Try: Kayle van Zyl
Next week has all 3 our teams competing in finals and if our teams manage to win their finals it shows that the Kings may be down, but we are not out - we have a base to start the rebuilding of the franchise and all is not lost.
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