1
Kings rally to stun Edinburgh, Munster beat Dragons
By Peter Thompson
Yaw Penxe's stunning late try snatched a 25-21 Pro14 victory for the Southern Kings over Edinburgh, while Munster edged out the Dragons to go top of Conference A on Saturday.
The Kings came into the match on an eight-game losing streak stretching back to September, but they stopped the rot in dramatic fashion in Port Elizabeth.
Bjorn Basson's solo score and eight points from the boot of Masixole Banda put the bottom side in Conference B 13-7 up at the break, Chris Dean crossing for the European Champions Cup quarter-finalists.
A penalty try and a converted Ross Ford score put Edinburgh on course for an eighth win in a row, but Bader-Werner Pretorius set up a tense finale with a try four minutes from time and Penxe took a superb offload from Meli Rokoua before scampering away for a superb winning try two minutes later.
While the Kings' second win of the season was unexpected, it came as no surprise to see Munster edge out the Dragons 8-7 at Rodney Parade to go two points clear of Glasgow Warriors.
Jean Kleyn's second-half try settled it after Lloyd Fairbrother barged over in the first half for the struggling home side, who are just two points better off than the Kings.
The Cheetahs dished out a nine-try 61-28 thumping to Zebre in a one-sided battle between the bottom two in Conference A, Justin Basson's red card late on coming when the contest was long-since over.
Meanwhile, play-off hopefuls Cardiff Blues got the better of Connacht 8-7 in another clash between two Conference A rivals.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
Go to commentsWhatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.
Go to comments