The Southern Kings put up a valiant performance against the Hurricanes in Wellington, New Zealand today with the final score Hurricanes 46 to Southern Kings 30.
Southern Kings Director of Rugby, Alan Solomons, said the Kings had been unfortunate not to have walked away with at least one bonus point in a game he felt could have been a draw.
“We could have drawn that game, we gave away a silly intercept try and we had some poor defense on their right hand touch line, our left hand touch line, where we went for an intercept where it wasn’t on to go for an intercept and the consequence was that we blew that.
“We certainly had the opportunity to get the bonus point for coming in within seven points. Also I felt that we had opportunities, right near the end as well, to get bonus points for 4 tries, We came within a whisker of getting a double set of bonus points,” he said.
Solomons said the team had lacked a bit of focus in the first twenty minutes of the game, and had been a bit outmuscled.
“In the first 20 minutes we didn’t start well. We made mistakes and gave away penalties which resulted in them scoring tries,” he said.
“They outmuscled us a bit especially in those opening 20 minutes and they got a bit of a jump on us.
“I think we then started settling into the game and it’s a pity that we gave away that try just before half time, which put us a little on the back foot. We then fought back with a much better performance in the second half.”
“We were very close to them at one point, there was like a six point difference between the two teams,” said Solomons.
Head coach Matt Sexton agreed, saying the players had a much better second half and were unfortunate in that the final score did not truly reflect the efforts on the field.
“I think we came in at half time. We came back into the game and put some pressure on,” he said.
Sexton said the team continued to grow from week to week; “We did have good periods but we just have to put those together,” he said.
Solomons said the team had continued to show grit and determination on the field.
“The message I had to the players was that they have to keep working at it. Keep working hard and keep at it and it will eventually be rewarded. I think we were unfortunate to have not come away with at least one if not two bonus points,” he said.
“I think the biggest thing for us, and I have been hammering the side for this. Every one of the Hurricanes tries comes through either an error or penalties, and what we have to understand is that if you make a mistake and give away a penalty, you will get hammered at this level. We have to cut our error rate, it is absolutely vital,” said Solomons.
Scorers:
- Wellington Hurricanes – Tries: Ben May, Conrad Smith, TJ Perenara, Jeremy Thursh, Brad Shields, Alapati Leiua; Conversions: Beauden Barrett (5); Penalties: Barrett (2)
- Southern Kings – Tries: Steven Sykes, Ronnie Cooke, Hannes Franklin; Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis (2), George Whitehead; Penalties: Catrakilis (3)
Video Highlights from the Southern Kings vs Wellington Hurricanes game:
