Yesterday, 21 January, the Southern Kings won their first warm up match against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 28 to 12 at the final whistle.
The match, played at the NMMU, was divided up into quarters of twenty minutes each, with a team rotation at half time, saw the Southern Kings leading 21 to nil after the second quarter.
Southern Kings scorers were Andries Strauss, Sergeal Peterson and Wimpie van der Walt, each scoring a try in the first two quarters, and Cornel du Preez scoring in the fourth quarter.
George Whitehead kicked three solid conversions before making way for Wesley Dunlop in the second half, who added the final two points for the Southern Kings after du Preez’ try.
NMMU gave the Southern Kings a good run for their money, breaking through their defence after some messy handling errors in the second half, with both Brendon Olivier and Yamkela Ngam scoring, while Bradley Kretzmann managed to convert one try with a solid kick over posts.
Director of Rugby Alan Solomons said the match had provided the Southern Kings with a good base point that they could work from.
“The first forty minutes were a bit frenetic at times and there were three or four cold tries that we didn’t finish off, but overall the performance was good,” he said.
“In the third quarter, however we made too many mistakes; we lost possession in two attacking line outs and our breakdowns need work,” he said.
Solomons said the NMMU team had done well and had provided the Southern Kings with a physical match.
“Remember, this is our first match, compared to their third and final match before taking part in the Varsity Cup next week,” he said.
Southern Kings Flyer Seargal Petersen.
