{"id":18734,"date":"2013-03-15T09:06:48","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T07:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/from-vodacom-super-rugby-runners-up-to-champions\/"},"modified":"2013-03-15T09:06:48","modified_gmt":"2013-03-15T07:06:48","slug":"from-vodacom-super-rugby-runners-up-to-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/from-vodacom-super-rugby-runners-up-to-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"From Vodacom Super Rugby runners-up to champions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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That is the new challenge that faces the Southern Kings<\/a> in Port Elizabeth on Friday evening when they will get their first taste of an opponent from New Zealand. Pundits say that this Friday\u2019s game is the one that will be the real indicator of the Southern Kings<\/a> performance going forward in this tough competition. This will also be the last home manage before the Kings head Down under to do a bit of work.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, the Kings managed to keep The Sharks tryless, although going down 21-12 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. This time, the Chiefs are in town, and as the DHL Stormers experienced first-hand last weekend, keeping them at bay is not as easy.<\/p>\n

With 14 tries from their first three matches, the Chiefs are leading the stakes when it comes to five-pointers in 2013. The Blues, with 11, and Brumbies with 10, are already lagging behind, with less than a quarter of the season completed.<\/p>\n

So good are the Chiefs with ball in hand, that last weekend they became the first team in almost four years to score four tries against the DHL Stormers at DHL Newlands.<\/p>\n

But the Kings themselves will be looking at more of a ball in hand approach this weekend, if only to keep the Chiefs\u2019 attacking opportunities to a minimum. They\u2019ve only scored two tries thus far in 2013, both by exciting wing prospect Sergeal Petersen in their opening match against the Force three weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chiefs have good depth right across the board \u2026 so we will have a bit of a job on our hands and look forward to the challenge,\u201d said Matt Sexton, head coach of the Kings.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of being defensive (last week) was that we didn\u2019t hold onto the ball properly. We made some silly errors and turned over ball when we shouldn\u2019t have. I think if we held onto the ball for a number of phases it might have been a different story.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019ve been working on that at training. The players have seen the pictures and the implications of letting go of the ball to easily. The Chiefs have threats right across the board. They\u2019re pretty clinical when you turn over the ball or on a miscued kick or things like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be nice and tidy with what we do and I think that if we do that we\u2019ll present a good challenge to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darron Nell, who will once again captain the Kings in the absence of the injured Luke Watson, said he was looking forward to Friday\u2019s match against the defending Vodacom Super Rugby champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week we had the Sharks and this week we have the Chiefs, the two finalists from last year,\u201d said Nell. \u201cI think we just want to concentrate on our processes and make sure that they work well and I think the results will look after themselves. Without a doubt it\u2019s going to be a tough game but we just want to look at ourselves and make sure we can do what we can do properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teams are:<\/strong><\/p>\n