Late surge not enough for Kings victory
Fundamental errors proved costly for the Isuzu Southern Kings when they slipped to a narrow 22-19 Guinness PRO14 defeat against Benetton Treviso, Kings head coach Deon Davids said.
Though they hit back with late tries from Luvuyo Pupuma and Tertius Kruger, it was not enough to secure victory over the Italians at the Madibaz Stadium on Saturday.
When the Kings did press forward they were held at bay by the strong-tackling Italians who were determined to hold onto the lead
The Kings were sunk in the first half when Benetton hooker Hame Faiva scored a hattrick of tries from rolling mauls, forcing the home team to play catch-up.
“At critical stages we made fundamental mistakes which broke down our continuity and that took opportunities away from us,” Davids said.
“There were some big lessons for us that we are continuing to learn.
“I am pleased that the energy and effort, compared with our last game against Connacht, was much better.”
Trailing 17-7 at the break, the Kings found themselves in even deeper trouble when elusive Benetton wing Monty Ioane showed deft skill to keep the ball in play and score his team’s fourth try after 50 minutes.
When the Kings did press forward they were held at bay by the strong-tackling Italians who were determined to hold onto the lead.
The Kings were building up a head of steam midway through the second half and took the ball through several phases, but were unable to find a way through the resolute Italian defence.
The Kings finally reaped a reward when prop Pupuma powered his way over the Italian line in the 74th minute.
With Banda popping over the conversion, the Kings were just eight points adrift of the Italians with six minutes left on the clock.
Right at the death, Kruger scored a breakaway try for the Kings, but it was too late to deny the Italians a hard-earned win on the road.
It was a sixth straight loss for the Kings, who are rooted to the foot of the Guinness PRO14 table after a series of setbacks.
“In the first half we did not have much ball or opportunities,” Davids said.
“We let ourselves down after the first kickoff when we kicked the ball out directly and gave the opposition a lineout in our half.
“From there they just kept us under pressure and we could not use the wind in the first half and play a good territory game.
“Because of that we lost good opportunities to build scoreboard pressure and play in the right areas of the field.”
Davids said there was nonetheless improvement.
“One area of our game that improved was in scrumming.
“We worked hard on that in the build-up. The players who came in made a difference.
“At the back, as a result of injuries, we had to make a few changes and you could clearly see the rhythm was not there.
The Kings had been hoping to end the year with a rousing win over the Italians, but came up short again.
There will be lots of time for the Kings to mull over what went wrong against Benetton, because their next match is against Edinburgh in Scotland on January 5.
Southern Kings 19: Benetton Treviso 22:
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