Deon Davids's men go down 32-16 to Zebre in PRO14 match in Parma
Defeated Kings ‘a bit rusty’
Ring rustiness played a part in the downfall of the Isuzu Southern Kings, who slipped to a 32-16 defeat to Zebre, head coach Deon Davids said.
A last-gasp try enabled the Italians to secure a bonus-point Guinness PRO14 win over the Kings in front of a delighted crowd at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma.
Zebre extended their bestever sequence in the Guinness PRO14 to four straight wins following their triumphs over Benetton, Ospreys and Dragons at the end of last season.
For the Kings, who could win only one of their 21 matches last season, it will be a case of going back to the drawing board before their next match against the Dragons in Wales on Saturday.
“Obviously we wished for a better result after we worked so hard behind the scenes. I must commend the guys for the effort and the way they started,” Davids said.
“I think they were a bit rusty, which was expected because we could not play any warm-up games before the competition started. In terms of combinations, the boys are still finding one another.
“We created some good opportunities, but we also lost some critical ball at crucial stages where we could have scored.”
Zebre coach Michael Bradley said it was the power of reserve players coming off the bench that powered his team to victory.
“The Kings put us under pressure in the second half and had enough chances to win the game,” Bradley said.
“But the character of our side and the reserves who came on were enough to carry us over the line. To win a game with a bonus point considering the way we played is a good statement for us.
“Now we have a lot of areas we need to work on before we play Connacht.
“We give credit to the Kings, but we give credit to ourselves for being able to finish the game off and get the bonus point. That was fantastic.”
Bradley said his team had let themselves down by not holding onto the ball longer.
“We wanted to continue on our journey in terms of the style of play we want to develop. Before the game I told the team to hold onto the ball and to go forward on attack. We will be critical of ourselves for not retaining possession for longer in the game.
“This did not allow us to impose ourselves as a 15-man unit on the Kings. That is an area we have to improve on for our next game.”
Zebre’s Apisai Tauyavuca was the hero for the home team as they made a winning start to new campaign.
Italian test flyhalf Carlo Canna was impeccable from the tee as he slotted 12 points to complement tries from Oliviero Fabiani, Mattia Bellini, Jimmy Tuivaiti and Tauyavuca. Fullback Michael Botha crossed for the visitors.
Zebre pushed hard for the bonus-point try and, after both Andisa Ntsila and Bobby de Wee were sin-binned to reduce the Kings to 13 men, they finally succeeded.
Some good phase play saw Fijian forward Tauyavuca barrel over from close-range to complete a 32-16 triumph.
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