An urgent review of the mounting penalty count against the Isuzu Southern Kings will be held before they face Glasgow Warriors on Saturday, Kings head coach Deon Davids said.
On their way to a 28-7 Guinness PRO14 defeat against Ulster on Sunday, the Kings conceded 22 penalties at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
The Kings are still winless after three rounds, and face another tough test when they face the unbeaten Glasgow Warriors at Nelson Mandela University’s Madibaz Stadium.
“The penalty count against the Kings was a concern when we played Ulster,” Davids said. “I will have to look at it. “At times, the breakdown was a free-for-all and I was unsure of what went wrong.
“It is something we will have to look at.
“In the scrums we felt were a bit on the unlucky side not being rewarded, but to get a penalty against us sometimes.
“Those things are frustrating because they influence the flow of the game and it also gets to the mental side of the game.
“It affects the way you think about the next phase of the game and the execution in terms of what you can do.
“It is definitely an area we will have to clarify as soon as possible.
“I think our lineouts went well against Ulster, and we had a plan to ensure that they did not get top-quality ball for their backs.
“That went well for us. I also think our mauls worked well.
“We were unlucky towards the end of the first half not to get a penalty try from a maul.
“I felt the Kings stopped the Ulster mauls well and they could not get into a rhythm in the first half to go for the touchline for mauls.
“They preferred to kick for poles, which showed we did a good job.”
Ulster head coach Dan McFarland has demanded that his side be more ruthless after beating the Kings.
“We created plenty of chances in the first half [where], if we were really ruthless, we could have scored a couple of tries," he said.
“The Kings gave away 14 penalties in the first half, and more than 20 by the end.
“When you’re playing in a game that is so stop-start because of penalties, it’s very difficult to get momentum.
“We came with a lot of respect for the Kings.”
Ulster take on the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday.