The Southern Kings have continued their winning form, downing the Melbourne Rebels 44 – 3 at Nelson Mandella Stadium.
After a fairly tight first half, the Kings put on five tries, dominating the men from Melbourne in all aspects of the game. For their part, nothing seemed to go right for the Rebels tonight.
First Half
The Rebels had a late change before kick-off; Nick Stirzaker was replaced by Mick Snowden in the starting lineup, the former picking up an ankle injury. Jack Debreczei joined the matchday 23 on the bench.
The Kings had the early momentum, putting pressure on the Rebels defence. The Rebels conceded a breakdown penalty, giving Cronje an easy shot at goal. He made no mistake, and the Kings were on the board with a 3 – 0 lead.
The Rebels started to build some pressure, with some good runs from Inman and English. However, poor execution robbed the Rebels of the change to score.
The Kings started to find their rhythm and turned this into points. From a fairly easy return kick, Mapimpi broke a Naivalu tackle and made good field position, only to be brought down just short of the line. The Kings regathered possession, spun the ball right to Cronje, who’s good kick found Mjekevu out wide for the try. Cronje missed the conversion, leaving the scores at 8 0- 0 to the Kings.
Things soon went from bad to worse for the Rebels; Mick Snowden, the only halfback in the match 23, went down with a serious foot injury. Despite some running repairs, he was forced from the field, replaced by flanker Will Miller.
Snowden – his injury spelt disaster
After 28 minutes, the Rebels finally earned a kickable penalty. Hodge made no mistake, and the scores were 8 – 3 to the Kings.
The Kings soon replied, after earning a penalty for a high shot. Cronje made no mistake with the kick, scores 11 – 3 to the Kings.
Second Half
The second half was all one-way traffic. The Kings had all the momentum, controlling field position and the scoreboard. The Rebels, short of a scrumhalf, just did not have any answers. To be fair, the backs could not get the clean service they need, and the stand-in scrummies (there were a few) were just not up to the level of Stirzaker or Snowden. It certainly showed in the second half.
The Kings went on a try fest rampage, leaving the Rebels in their wake. Tries to Cloete (43min), De Wet (63min), Mjekevu (70min) and Banda (79min) were the result of good linebreaks, support plan, and finishing from the outside backs. The try to Paul (58min) was the result of a poor Rebels lineout, caused by confusion over the scrumhalf role.
The try to Paul summed up the night for the Rebels
There were glimpses of the Rebels showing some attacking fortitude, but poor execution and some horrible luck left them with no reward on the scoreboard.
In the end, the Kings made history by scoring tow wins in a row. The men from Melbourn remain winless in the Republic.
Final scores: Kings 44, Rebels 3
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The Game Changer
The loss of Mick Snowden killed any chance of a Rebels win. You cannot win games without your key link man. The delay and confusion at the back of the ruck gave the Kings enough time to shut down any Rebels momentum.
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The G&GR MOTM
For scoring a brilliant try, and assist in at last two more, Makazole Mapimpi earns the MOTM. The Kings back three were strong tonight, but Makazole showed some blistering speed, with a massive 145 run metres, three clean breaks, and beat seven defenders.
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Wallaby Watch
From a Wallaby perspective, nothing much to see here. Reece was OK, but struggled to get any momentum without the good ball from the halves.
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The Details
Score & Scorers
Kings 44
Tries: W. Mjekevu (19), M. Bezuidenhout (43), T. Paul (58), P. de Wet (63), M. Mapimpi (70), M. Banda (80)
Tries: W. Mjekevu (19), M. Bezuidenhout (43), T. Paul (58), P. de Wet (63), M. Mapimpi (70), M. Banda (80)
Conversions: L. Cronje (44), P. de Wet (64), P. de Wet (72), P. de Wet (80)
Penalties: L. Cronje (5), L. Cronje (35)
Rebels 3
Penalties: Hodge (28)
Cards & Citings
None
Crowd
TBA
REFEREE
Marius Van Der Westhuizen