Scot van Breda won man of the match for the Kings in Swansea. Photo: @SouthernKingsSA via Twitter Scot van Breda won man of the match for the Kings in Swansea. Photo: @SouthernKingsSA via Twitter
The Southern Kings broke their overseas duck in the PRO14 competition with a 16-14 win over the Ospreys in Swansea, Wales, on Saturday.
The victory was also the Port Elizabeth franchise’s maiden win of the season.
Kings fullback Scott van Breda was responsible for 11 of his side’s points landing three penalty goals and conversion kick including a long-range shot from inside his own half.
Both teams had to resort to a kick-heavy strategy in wet and slippery conditions in South Wales. Ospreys scored two converted tries while the Kings’ only five-pointer early in the first half courtesy of Erich Cronje. Welsh flyhalf James Hook missed two penalties, tipping the match in the Kings’ favour.
Kings coach Robbie Kempson was full of praise of his charges for breaking new ground for the Eastern Cape side.
“It was an unbelievable effort from my boys,” Kempson said.
“We got a bit of the rub of the green here and there, but the defensive effort and the way they dug in when Ospreys were throwing everything at them was just outstanding. I can’t fault a single player.”
Kempson was praised his relatively young side for pulling through in alien conditions.
“What was most encouraging about this performance was that it was achieved by a very young team with a few old guys mixed in,” Kempson said.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries, particularly to front-row players, and we don’t have a front-line loosehead prop for a start. But for them to hold onto that victory in conditions that South Africans aren’t used to was commendable, and I take my hat off to them.”
Meanwhile, the Cheetahs suffered their third consecutive defeat on tour with a 30-17 loss to the Cardiff Blues due largely to ill-discipline.
The Bloemfontein side played the majority of the match with only 14 men after Jasper Wiese copped a red card for dangerous play in the 15th minute and the visitors were reduced to 13 men when Gerhard Olivier was yellow carded shortly before the break.
Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie rued their ill-discipline although he was proud of their fight-back effort scoring two tries following the red card.
“We were looking for a win, so it was very disappointing not to come away with a point from the game,” said Fourie.
“When the red card came I was already concerned as we were 8-0 behind and another score for them would have meant we were in for a long night.
“Unfortunately then we gave away two soft penalties just before half-time and they scored soon after the break when we were down to 13 men, which surrendered the initiative back to them.”