Boy oh boy was that a gripping South African derby to behold! If the second leg can match the first meeting between the Isuzu Southern Kings and Toyota Cheetahs this season, we are in for a real treat in Round 9. The Port Elizabeth clash had a bit of everything, exceptional tries, fiery battles and, after 80 minutes of action, a brilliant winner for the Cheetahs and heartbreak for the Kings. Rhyno Smith was the man who dealt the killer blow – as he has so many times this season – and here we take a look back at the match and the reasons the Kings could come back even stronger next week. Smith forges Cheetahs comeback They came so close! In six Guinness PRO14 attempts and four in Super Rugby the Kings have not beaten the Cheetahs, they couldn’t possibly come any closer than this match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Robbi Kempson’s side came within minutes of that historic win but leading 30-17 with six minutes left to play up stepped the flying full-back with a stunning double. The Kings had worked themselves into a position to edge this derby with room to spare, fly-half Bader Pretorius with all of his side’s first-half points to lead 13-5 at the interval. https://twitter.com/SouthernKingsSA/status/1221074268609568768?s=20 You sensed further breaks would be needed and come they did, Stefan Ungerer intercepting to dive into the corner and then chipping to allow JT Jackson in under the posts. But the Cheetahs, prodded on by replacement scrum-half Ruan Pienaar, finished very strongly. Wilmar Arnoldi also stepped off the bench to touch down on 58 minutes and despite one more Pretorius penalty Smith proved too elusive in the wide channel and then magnificently caught Pienaar’s cross-field with two attempts deep into the red. Pienaar struck the winning points with a typically nerveless conversion to seize the win. Kings improvements So, after the heartbreak subsides, can the Kings come back and win the return fixture in Round 9? Playing away from home of course, it will be no easy task. But Kempson and his men can build on plenty of positives from this match, they played the better rugby for the majority and can take confidence from that, if they can only extend it to 80 minutes. The Cheetahs did dominate possession (62%) and territory (65%) but until the final quarter the Kings looked incredibly comfortable in that position – their defence was immense at times and showed signs of real improvement from last season. The hosts made 130 tackles, missing just 15, (90% success) while the Cheetahs missed 17 of 77 (82%). Kings flanker Thembelani Bholi led with aplomb in this area, topping his side’s tackle count with 12 while also making the joint-highest number of carries (8) and claiming the most metres 71 – not a man who deserved to be on the losing side. https://twitter.com/CheetahsRugby/status/1221090208545955841?s=20 Bobby’s beat Man of the match Bholi will need to have a similar rampaging impact in Bloemfontein next week, while that same punishing defence will need to be matched, and the Kings have one more card up their sleeve – Bobby de Wee. The towering lock, one of the Kings’ outstanding performers since joining the Guinness PRO14, was immense from the bench after entering the fray on 61 minutes. We don’t know why De Wee didn’t start, but Robbi, get this boy in – he can play! 19 minutes of action – nine tackles – and the majority of them thunderous hits that knocked back attacker after attacker, a dive over a ruck on 66 minutes forcing a crucial knock-on. Then came a crucial lineout steal on the Kings line in the final ten minutes as de Wee helped stem the tide, but for Smith’s eventual late intervention. Last January the Kings lost at home 24-17 but then fought back with an even better performance away from home, narrowly losing out 40-36 – they must repeat this pattern while also finding the finishing touch.
