According to most Sport readers, the Kings have justified their inclusion in Super Rugby at the expense of the Lions.
Sport24
With their 34-27 victory over the Highlanders in Port Elizabeth last Saturday, the Kings achieved their third victory of their maiden Super Rugby season – the same number of wins as the Lions achieved last season.
In addition, the Kings, during their season to date, have also achieved an away draw against the current Super Rugby table-topping Brumbies.
The Kings, currently in 13th position in the standings on 20 points, have five games remaining in their season, as well as a bye which guarantees them four points.
By comparison, the Lions finished the 2012 season in 15th – and last – spot on 25 points.
In addition, the Kings have outperformed the Western Force (one win, two draws in 2006) and the Melbourne Rebels (three wins, no draws in 2011) to become the most successful debutant in the history of the competition.
The Kings will also be aiming to avoid finishing the season with the wooden spoon, which will be a first for a debutant.
The Kings have been praised for playing attacking, entertaining rugby and have played to a packed stadium filled with dedicated fans, leading many to proclaim the team’s inclusion in Super Rugby as a resounding success.
The current Sport24 homepage poll asks:
“The Kings have now equaled the Lions 2012 Super Rugby record of three wins. Is it fair to say they have proven they deserve Super Rugby?”
These were the results:
59% – YES. The Kings have shown they are in Super Rugby to stay
41% – NO. The Lions would have done better and will still win the relegation playoff
Not related to this article , just post it for our true front row meanies, the contest is over. Next might be uncontested scrums from the start. I will miss this part, those real powerful men…
The season so far has seen one of the most efficient scrum clearances in perhaps any domestic rugby tournament’s history, with Super Rugby in 2013 showing a precise 75% rate of scrum’s succeeding, meaning the ball was fed and cleared on the first put in three times out of four.
SANZAR Game Manager Lyndon Bray refers to this with the referees’ team as “ball in, ball out” at scrum time, focusing on the fact that the ideal purpose of the set piece was merely to set up the next phase of play.
The 2012 Super Rugby season set a benchmark in itself, with a scrum clearance rate of 60%.
If six out of ten sounds like a rough rate, two Super Rugby season’s ago that all important percentile sat at 45%.
The Southern Kings may still have plenty of detractors, but they are taking heart from the fact that Super Rugby’s most successful team, the Crusaders, finished stone last in their debut season.
Matt Sexton, a founding member of the seven-time champion Crusaders, has already coached the Kings to a more successful season than what his Christchurch-based former team achieved in 1996.
The Kings, following their heartwarming 34-27 triumph over the Highlanders at the weekend, now have three wins and a draw to their credit after 11 rounds – with a good chance of avoiding a last-placed finish.
This despite the 72-10 hammering at the hands of the Waratahs and a 55-20 loss to the Crusaders, the only other time they conceded more than 50 points.
Sexton, speaking to Rugby365, pointed out that the Crusaders’ start in Super Rugby was far more inglorious – with just two wins and a draw, finishing last in 1996. The Crusaders conceded 50 points or more on three occasions and 49 points on another.
The Kings coach said he is “excited” to be part of the Kings’ development and feels there is “something special” happening in Port Elizabeth.
“We have had a few obstacles along the way,” Sexton told this website, when asked about his time as Kings coach and how it compared with his time at the Crusaders back in the 1990s.
“The really pleasing things is the way that the team has come together,” he said, adding: “There are no egos in this group, while everyone is fighting for each other and the region.
“The great thing is that we’ve had a lot of support from a region that has been starved of Super Rugby. Even after we lost our second match on tour, we arrived in Canberra with a room full of emails and best wishes, which was fantastic.
“It really helped the guys’ morale – it is exciting to be part of this.”
Having been part of the very successful Canterbury and Crusaders environment, Sexton was again very positive when asked to draw a comparison between the brands in Christchurch and PE.
“I actually played in 1996, the inaugural year of the Crusaders, and we ended up last in the competition – we had a very unsuccessful year.
“From there [last place] we built something and I think that is what is happening here [in PE].
“We are trying to build something that is going to be here for a long time.
“There is a lot of ingredients here similar to when I was with the Crusaders, very similar in nature.
“There is a very good player base here, good support, we’ve got a great stadium and people love rugby in this region – those are the recipes for success and are very similar in nature from when I was playing.”
Sexton added that Eastern Province and the Eastern Cape itself have a very proud history in rugby and similar with the Crusaders.
“There are a lot of similarities and I think given a chance this region will flourish and be just as successful.”
Asked if he can see himself staying on in PE for a while yet, Sexton said: “My contract is for two years.
“There is a plan in place, if I do get the opportunity to go past that, that things are successful.
“The exciting part for me was, when I first signed up for this opportunity, it is a blank canvas and I can really put my mark on this programme.
“Hopefully [I can] put something in place that is going to stand the test of time and also be very successful – that is what I am aiming to do.”
Sexton made his debut for Canterbury in 1991, eventually making 128 appearances in his 10 years there.
He was also a member of the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise in their first six seasons in the competition, although he missed the 2000 Super 12 season through injury.
He was also the first forward to score a try in Crusaders colours, when he did so in the 1996 Super 12 game against the Blues.
Die dag as Lukas en Sheiky f….off sal ek die Kings my volle ondersteuning gee, en dis nie te versmaai nie; kyk maar net hoe goed doen die Bulle vandat ek en my swaerie innie Kaap saam oor die Bulkamp se draad gespring het!
Ek is hoeka al die jare n sterk OP-ondersteuner.
@ superBul:
Sexton klink na n yster, nie geweet hy was eers n Crusader nie. Maar hy doen goeie werk daar onder, hoop hy bly aan in SA wanneer sy kontrak verstryk.
@ Pietman:
Pete, sy naam is Luke nie Lukas nie. As dit Lukas was sou hy nie so deur mekaar gewees het nie.
@ McLook:
Ok weer waar!
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