Southern Kings defeat Bulls

[nickdnz]

Super Rugby in 2013, with a committed 23-7 victory over the reigning champion Bulls at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The Bulls were missing essentially a starting XV of front line players, most of them Springboks, but even a second string Bulls team is expected to play with a fair amount of precision considering the franchise is essentially the strongest in the Southern Hemisphere - by virtue of winning three of the last four ***les.

Yet the expected Bulls execution was what was missing, as a young team looked disjointed and well short of match practice.

If these backup and wider training group players were pushing for spots in the first team, they will be dissapointed they did not put their hands up.

The Bulls set pieces, the pride of South Africa, were constantly under pressure, with numerous penalties conceded at the scrum and lineouts stolen without kingpin Victor Matfield ruling the air.

Even when the Bulls did attack, with 13 attacking raids in the Kings red zone, they very rarely looked like scoring.

Meanwhile the Kings looked every bit a professional and polished rugby side in front of over 30,000 fans.

They were physical and determined, looking every bit a winning rugby team. They hit the collisions with fervour, and all basic elements - positional play, passing and running lines - were indicative of a well drilled team.

Head coach Alan Solomons said it was a proud day for the region.

"We showed we belonged here," Solomons said.

"The players were very committed today. They didn't let their focus drop and they were in the right head space."

The Kings were only ahead 6-0 at halftime, but as the second half progressed, their pressure began to tell.

Two tries were scored within ten minutes, the first to Matthew Tayler-Smith, which began off a turnover and summed up the game as the Kings looked hungry whereas the Bulls looked oddly disinterested at times.

The second was a well worked play via the backline, which led to Siyanda Grey.

Both were converted by solid first five-eighth Monty Dumond, and at 23-0 it was game over.

The Bulls scored a late try via Courtnall Skosan, showing glimpses of the championship team we know so well, but the late fightback was too little too late.

Kings 23
Tries: Grey, Tayler-Smith
Cons: Dumond 2
Pens: Dumond 3

Bulls 7
Try: Skosan
Con: Fouché

Southern Kings: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Norman Nelson, 13 Siyanda Grey, 12 Matthew Tayler-Smith, 11 Paul Perez, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Jacques Coetzee, 8 Darron Nell, 7 Mpho Mbiyozo, 6 Devin Oosthuizen, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Rory Duncan (captain), 3 André Schlechter, 2 Hannes Franklin, 1 Jaco Engels. Replacements - from: Jaco Fourie, Ronnie Uys, Riaan Vermeulen, Ross Kennedy, Lungelo Payi, Marlon Lewis, Shane Gates, SP Marais, Frank Herne.

Bulls: 15 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 CJ Stander, 6 Derick Kuün (captain), 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Fudge Mabeta, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Henry Bantjes, 1 Dean Greyling. Replacements - from: Hans van Dyk, Frik Kirsten, Andries Ferreira, Tendayi Chikukwa, Okkie Kruger, Dustin Jinka, Louis Fouché, Bradley Moolman, Courtnall Skosan.

http://www.allblacks.com/news/15323/Southern-Kings-humble-the-champions

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Can't really read too much into this; that wasn't a bad Kings team, in fact they've been recruiting like crazy and it seems to be paying off. Bulls were taken off guard and the young team couldn't handle the intensity and pressure the Kings brought onto the field. That said, I would be worried if I were a Bulls fan and some key players got injured. The long season and RWC will force player rotation and the bulls' season depends very much on how they manage this while staying competitive.

 

[Seaton]

Was a good result for a 2nd Division team, even if up against a team missing a host of players

However, players like Jaco van de Westhuyzen, Stephan Dippenaar, Stefan Watermeyer, Francios Brummer, Akona Ndungane, Derick Kuun, CJ Stander, Werner Kruger, Dean Greyling and Gerrit-Jan van Velze are all the immediate back-ups in their respective positions, and given the length of the tournement, they will definately come into play

That was pretty much the BB Currie Cup team, they should not be losing to (albiet a strong one) a 2nd division team