All hail the Kings
23 Feb 2013
The Kings scored an historic Super Rugby victory in their tournament debut in Port Elizabeth.
The Kings won 22-10 in front of a crowd exceeding 30 000 against Australia’s Western Force.
What a magnificent achievement. What a wonderful night for rugby in the Southern and Eastern Cape. What a night to remember.
South Africans be proud of a team that played for themselves, their region and their country.
Hopefully now the hatred with subside.
Luke Watson, a former Grey High captain, led out the Kings and proved inspirational in the opening 30 minutes before an accidental elbow to his larynx ended his evening. His replacement Jacques Englebrecht was as imposing as every Kings player stood tall in defence to turn a 10-5 deficit into a 11-10 lead and ultimately victory.
The Kings players with Super Rugby experience like hooker Bandise Maku, lock Steven Sykes and midfielders Andries Strauss and Ronnie Cooke were outstanding but it was a local teenager, winger Sergeal Petersen, who stole the hearts with a brace of tries to be named man of the match.
Petersen was in school at Grey High just three months ago and what made the night even more monumental was the first try should go to local lad from the region’s greatest rugby institution and that the player of the night should be a product of Grey High.
Kings Director of Rugby Alan Solomons deserves every accolade, as does coach Matt Sexton.
‘It was an incredible defensive effort,’ said Solomons. ‘We turned over a lot of ball and made a lot of mistakes but they will learn at this level. But their commitment can’t be faulted. It was a huge effort.’
Kings stand in captain Andries Strauss said the players were always confident they were good enough to win.
‘We will enjoy the night, but we are a grounded unit and we know it just gets tougher with each match.’
The Kings were given no price and no chance and done no favours.
The Kings lead the South African Conference after week one and that alone is a screen shot that makes this year among the most historic in South Africa’s Super Rugby history.
The Kings were everything but an embarrassment. They were an inspiration and they deserve every bit of applause for what was achieved in Port Elizabeth on Saturday night.
No new team in the competition has ever won in their first match. That bit of history belongs to the Kings.
By Mark Keohane
944 Comments
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24 Feb 2013, 03:40 am
Go the mighty Kings, if they can knock over some of the bigger name SA teams at home that’ll be just fine.
24 Feb 2013, 03:48 am
Jy kan geen taal hier goed hanteer met jou skryfwerk, maar jy wil ironies voorgee dat jy ‘slim’ is?
Lag maar weer, maar jy weet wat jy moet doen voor jy begin ou kallvoet klong.
Jy kan nie die gekskeer nie want jy is die GEK. Dra daai hoed nou mooi, toe?
24 Feb 2013, 03:51 am
@wallabie.-650: True bru
24 Feb 2013, 03:59 am
@ET.-652: haai Eugene eks nie die een wat hier probeer slim speel nie maar as jy my so ervaar voel ek gevlei. Se my egter hoe onderskei jy jouself van n ou soos Eugene. Wat maak jou anders.Ek bespeur n bitter swak selfbeeld wat homself probeer verdoesel met n valse geleerde gepoetsheid. Die verskil tussen my en jou is ek lag as ek in die spieel kyk en jy ,jy haat. Aanvaar jouself en die res res sal in plek val.
24 Feb 2013, 04:52 am
Hats of to the Kings.
Well played and well won….. did better than my Canes
24 Feb 2013, 05:10 am
pedigree is packaged as dog popo-374:
Paying slave wages(like the grape farmers whose “point” you saw) to your poor “servant” makes you non-racial? Your mere emotional ploys do not fool me.
Exposing your version of racism(its neo- at best) never renders me a racist just as no Nazi hunter from Israel or anywhere else becomes a Nazi by exposing the Hitlerites in S.America.
Your spoilt brat raising renders you so full of yourself that on any social issue you are hardly able to see the wood for the trees hence your consistent confusion backed up with lies(are you still “coloured” – your sick British ethnic tag).
How would you ever know your written and quoted following when just on a rugby level you know just the racist version from your racist past and history? :
“.for the right reasons.”
” in their corner for all the wrong reasons….see? ”
Tell me then a little more wrt the “wrong reasons” (if you even ever know) about W.P. Rugby Board, City and Suburban Rugby Union, Tygerberg Rugby Union, W.P. Rugby Union(Bo-Kaap -to help you), S.West R.U., Boland R.U., W.P. Country Districts R.B. etc., etc.
Or tell me about your “right reasons” wrt Kwaru (let alone their clubs like St. Cyprians R.C., Union R.C., Spring Rose R.C.etc.), Sedru, E.P R.U., Border or their venues(dust bowls some) like Dan Qeqe Stadium, Adcock Stad. and more.
Do you even know the real history of the Watson brothers?
Dan ‘Cheeky’ Watson plus brothers Valence, Gavin and Ronnie came over to the non-racial rugby fold of the only genuine non-racial S.A.R.U.(not your neo-racist version of this era) by joining the Spring Rose R.C. Only Cheeky and Valence were good enough to play provincial rugby for Kwaru consistently, but Gavin and Ronnie never made it really.
You can lie and make light of many things but eventually because of your ignorance and confusion and utter stupidity the FOOL is only you.
What you surmise you “find sad” is totally irrelevant to me as a single non-racial entity but I am not interested in any of your childish cliques.
Or are you just trying to inform those mysterious, nameless okes that your newest fetish is “buttcrack licking”
Why not tell them directly yourself as you, only you, seem to know who they are and whether you catch their fancy?
Your confusion grows astronomically each time I make an appearance and that is not even daily, as you do.
Where am I now supposed to be, in P.E., S.A. or C.T., S.A. or somewhere on the East or West coast ,S.A. or maybe the U.S.A.(which U.S.A – the Union of or the United)?
You are a joke but unfortunately a pathetic one at that.
Why not ask me about “colustrum”(sic)? Are you aware that you are too very old to need the protection of the antibodies that babies need in their first 6 months on this globe? You are going for the wrong Igs and other macro-molecules as you are closer to the opposite extreme of life you old hag.
24 Feb 2013, 05:23 am
Having written off the Kings I have been served a cold stodgy helping of humble pie that I must now consume. Having said that I’ve written a lot of articles but none I’m more proud of than this one.
http://fantasyrugbyscout.com/2013/02/24/humble-pie/
24 Feb 2013, 05:41 am
pedigree dog popo-402:
” It’s sad that another traditional region got the boot, as it would be poetic and right for the traditional and historical Saffa powerhouses: ”
Do you even know what point you want to establish precisely here as you juxtapose the one with the other such as one does with good against bad, respectively? You are just too shallow and too superficial to make any meaningful rugby point.
The Transvaal Rugby Union was mostly a rotten, bully, money union buying respectability and trophies and especially so in the days when run by an even more odious president, Louis Luyt, racist to his very core and heavily linked to the ‘saintly’ Broederbond .
Even when not officially serving as president his top man and right hand man, one De Beer, was the then long time head of the Afrikanerbond(BB under a different name).
Transvaal R.U. reaped the ills(money and more) of the seeds they sowed, simply.
You would do yourself and your ilk a huge favour by simply keeping your non-thought through(to its logical conclusions) notions to yourself ensuring less embarrassment. But then with that brattish upbringing that is impossible, not so?
Realise also, except for venting, your notions are worthless and meaningless in today’s S.Africa.
You are a number, a mere ugly number and your fanciful vote is rendered meaningless and worthless in a sea of much bigger numbers.
24 Feb 2013, 06:03 am
This is how the Observer saw and presented Dan Watson in 2008:
” Watson rejected the honour of playing for the all-white Springboks in 1976, preferring to join segregated black teams on dustbowl township pitches at the height of apartheid. Challenged to practise his Christian convictions by a black journalist, Watson also coached a black township side, refusing the offer of a cap and a place on South Africa’s tour to France in exchange for turning his back on black rugby.
For Afrikaners, this was heresy – and against the country’s apartheid-era race laws. Some were determined to make Watson pay for insulting the famous green and gold jersey.
His home was firebombed by white vigilantes after he entertained black players there. He was shot at in the street and his business burned down. After taking his team for training, he had to escape a white mob outside a Port Elizabeth stadium by lying on the floor of a taxi.
Watson joined the then illegal African National Congress in 1978. His brother, also a rugby player, was an intelligence officer for the ANC. They were followed by secret police and shunned by white friends. ”
This is a mere drop in the ocean but this is why very many millions of Blacks respect his and his families’ involvement and commitment to the struggle for human dignity for all. He was prepared to lose all for them, including hid life.
But he embarrassed those apartheid lovers too and they still hate, even today as a S.African franchise from the E Cape beat an Australian franchise with many more years of Super rugby exposure and experience than the locals.
You cannot buy passion, motivation and commitment, however.
24 Feb 2013, 06:15 am
@ET.-659:
ET that was very enlightening….Thanks
24 Feb 2013, 06:20 am
Right now there are a few hundred club sides around the globe that could whip the Force.
What is all the overreaction about?
24 Feb 2013, 06:35 am
@Predawn-661:
They played like a kiwi side spun the ball wide and scored some great tries, it should be celebrated and the rest of SA’s teams should look to learn from that as their attacking play is pathetic.
24 Feb 2013, 06:37 am
Head is eina this morning as the red wine flowed in celebration of a passinate and committed performance by the Kings…..Luke Watson lead magnificently for the first 3 minutes, what a player and captain he is!
My huge congratulations to the Kings, no matter how difficult it gets if you boys play with the same dedication and guts then you will get the respect you deserve…..Solomons and Luke take a bow, that was simply awesome! The Stormers could do with a dose of that team spirit!
24 Feb 2013, 06:39 am
@Te Rangatira-660:
And now Twatson has landed with his bottom in the gravy coach and is riding the elitist train for all his worth. Instead of hiring the most talented young up and coming black players and developing them, he’d rather skip to the best part and hire foreigners, effectively putting four local lads out of contention.
His son, influenced by the Marxist doctrine of his father, made the ultimate faux pax and declared that he would gladly vomit on the sacred Springbok jersey, and in one foul swoop prejudiced himself by becoming enemy number one in the eyes of the South African rugby loving public. This comment my Kiwi friend, came years and years after the fall of the Nationalist government, which makes this politically incorrect statement moot. For a lad with an oh so posh accent and the best education that money could buy, this comment smacked of arrogance. One could day he is a chip off the old block.
The South Africa of today is sick and tired of these wannabe political armchair activists. The time for sabre rattling died in 1994. The time for Twatson to put his rhetoric into practice is now.
The Eastern Cape breeds brilliant rugby players. One has to ask why Twatson keeps bypassing the hard graft to take the easy way out of everything.
24 Feb 2013, 06:42 am
@NZINCHINA-662:
Lets see what happens when they play a proper rugby team. Those imports had better perform.
24 Feb 2013, 06:44 am
@Predawn-665:
Sure agree but they played well and scored tries, it must have been the kiwi coaches influence lol, were you happy with the Sharks first outing?
24 Feb 2013, 06:45 am
666 that’s no good.
24 Feb 2013, 06:48 am
@NZINCHINA-666:
Man I didn’t see the game. I will see next weeks one though. Sounds like the Stormers, Sharks and some other teams are still shaking off the rust.
You are right about Kiwi coaches though. Their influence (and I put Mitchell in here)is invaluable.
24 Feb 2013, 07:00 am
@Predawn-668:
Yip early days but this Kings thing rightly or wrongly has spiced things up and that has to be good for the comp, I think they play the Chiefs next week that will be the acid test for them.
24 Feb 2013, 07:16 am
@Predawn-664:
I was unaware of the sacrifices Cheeky and his family made during the Apartheid era….So he’s reaping the benefits of befriending the Powers of the day because of it…..why not? He has established a Franchise that has had its first taste of success on the field and their supporters are ecstatic….a positive thing I would have thought…As for developing black players from the province, it will come in time methinks…I saw a good young winger who has a big future today…..if he can bring on others like him, wouldn’t it benefit Sa Rugby?
24 Feb 2013, 07:41 am
@Te Rangatira-670:
A pity it had to come at the expense of one of the most established provincial teams in South African history. Why do the Lions not deserve to stay in the competition and have the luxury of the financial assistance of elitism like the Kings? Should there not be equality across the board or are some more equal thaan others.
I guarantee you, as shite as the Force may be, they will still be around for years to come. Why then can the Lions not be afforded the same opportunities? The Bulls and Sharks went through some lean years and they are still around. The Cheetahs are awful and have no hope of ever coming close to even a playoff but they are still around.
What you have to understand is that Apartheid is long gone…and can no longer be used as an excuse for the new elite getting richer while the poor get poorer..which is what is happening right now. The Twatsons of the world don’t give a damn who they stand on to get to the top…no matter what he did in the past. By default his big gob has put him in the position whereby he has to prove that his ‘previously disadvantaged’ struggle credentials will actually be used in a postive way. That his political connections have knocked out a historically important rugby union is a very sore point in South Africa.
How would Kiwis feel if the Highlanders were considered expendable and simply vanquished because they were not afforded financial backing by the right political heavyweights and instead a tiny island rugby team somewhere off the coast of New Zealand was created and thrown into the Super 15? It’s not a morally correct decision anyway you paint it.
People here are bitter and angry and they have good reason to be mate.
24 Feb 2013, 08:24 am
to quote the stormers fans on this forum: ” yoooo hooo”
*air punches* – multiple
what a night, the Slaghuis was cooking, Luke fired up the boys with a passionate pre-match talk & as they say, the rest is history
24 Feb 2013, 08:29 am
@Transformation-672:
Well done to all the Kings supporters. Topping the SA conference after first week for SA teams. They deserved it, especially after all the flak they have been given. Now go on and beat a few big guns…
Well done Guppy Supporters – almost went the other way but Mary’s Lambie did play well – can’t say the same for Lion import who played for the Stormers…
24 Feb 2013, 08:46 am
@Transformation-672: Congrats Transie, your boys completely won me over last night with their gees and obvious team spirit. It made me remember why I love rugby after the yawn fest between my team and the bulls.
24 Feb 2013, 08:47 am
@Transformation-672: Transie well done to your team !!!!
Nursing a headache this morning ??
24 Feb 2013, 08:54 am
@Transformation-672: Haha well done boet. You’ve taken your share of flak on here, enjoy the moment.
24 Feb 2013, 08:59 am
@stormersboy-676: Hi SB – do you know when Tiaan will be back at training ?
24 Feb 2013, 09:09 am
the headache is worth it charlie.
an emotionally charged night…love this game!
24 Feb 2013, 09:09 am
@CharlesM-677: No I don’t. Didn’t see him around last week. I’ll ask AC if I get there tomorrow,
We need to change something quick that’s for sure.
24 Feb 2013, 09:14 am
@Gumboots-673: @playtheball-674: @CharlesM-675: @stormersboy-676: thanks fellas.. i did nothing really besides cheer, scream & hound the linesman…
24 Feb 2013, 09:15 am
Goodmorning all
Hope you enjoyed this weekend’s matches as much as I did! Was really good to see all the new talent on display,here in SA and in Australasia.Now if only we could go back to a round-robin format where each team plays the others once,without this double derby nonsense and extended play-offs…
On another note,this week it’s Stormers vs Sharks again and you all remember what happened last time these teams faced off….that’s right folks,we witnessed a Sharks exodus from Keo… I see somenof those verlore haaitjies are back here but……Here we go again,buckle up mense,this week’s gonna be one helluva ride…definetely not for the faint-hearted.
24 Feb 2013, 09:18 am
Ah now these intelligence invested upright apies who lavishly helped themselves to a good helping from the tree of knowledge of good and evil pride themselves in being of sound reasoning attributes of discretionary discrimination to be able to determine which apple is good and which apple is bad from the tree of their inscrutable scruples of Christmas carol rigorous righteousness.
The laughable irony of this downright disingenuous hypocritical hypothesis is that all those proclaiming
high morally objective capacity for truth to be the very ones most vociferously entrenched in the
24 Feb 2013, 09:18 am
Multiple air punches!
24 Feb 2013, 09:18 am
Sprinter aims for London
Olympics
05 April 2011
GREY High School athlete Sergeal Petersen
has his sights firmly set on the 2012
Olympic Games in London.
Petersen, 16, a Grade 11 pupil, has
emerged as one of Eastern Province’s most
exciting young sprinters.
He won the 100m gold medal at the SA
Schools under-17 100m championship held
in Paarl last month.
He also set a personal best of 10.35sec for
the 100m during the Eastern Cape Schools
Championships held in East London last
month and has just been selected for the
SA u-17 athletics team which will travel to
Namibia for the Junior African
Championships next month.
Growing up in Humansdorp, Petersen was
an enthusiastic participant in all sports at
primary school, but he has concentrated on
rugby and athletics at high school.
24 Feb 2013, 09:20 am
Ja Rage
Maybe this time we can get rid of all of them
24 Feb 2013, 09:20 am
@Transformation-678: I bet it is !! The problem(s) will unfortunately start when you have to deal with injuries. Enjoy the moment though – I’m waiting to hear all the comments during this week about how poor the Force were / are.
Andries Strauss mentioned it that it will be necessary to keep their focus. It was a good start and important to win the 1st one but a lot of hard work still needs to be done…..and BTW the Force is really no force but as a friend always used to say “a win is a win old pal”@stormersboy-679: Thanks …that means he is still some way of starting to play. We definitely need to change something! At this stage I still stand by what I’ve said last night. I just can’t see any other solution to the problem.
What about Scarra ? Has he started yet ?
24 Feb 2013, 09:21 am
@Transformation-684: He’s got some gas that’s for sure.
Good luck to the guy. Hope he gets better and better.
24 Feb 2013, 09:22 am
@Transformation-680: But that’s your “job” as a spectator !!
24 Feb 2013, 09:23 am
Charles
The “how poor the Force are” comments are already on the first 3 pages of the thread!
24 Feb 2013, 09:24 am
@CharlesM-686: No not either. From what i can remember Tiaan will be fit sooner. I agree with your assessments. Marting must play 2, Rynard to 4, Deon to 6. Makes the most sense.
I hope the props are OK. It was a bit messy on Friday
24 Feb 2013, 09:25 am
@Transformation-684: Has he lost some pace ? I’m sure the commentators said he ran a 10,55 last year (which is still quick).
He is a real talent Transie – let’s hope the Kings can hold onto him !
24 Feb 2013, 09:29 am
@Dawn-689: yes, I’ve seen that but there will be more of that….much more this week.
IMO the Sharks are the definite favourites for this week’s encounter. The week after that we have to play the Chiefs…..like Robzim said last night, we might even be 0 from 3 after 3 matches (I really hope not……..)@stormersboy-690: I’m not too sure if they (props) were really injured. It seemed that AC pulled a “Rassie” – once again I hope I’m wrong
24 Feb 2013, 09:30 am
@stormersboy-690: Seeing that you have a direct line to AC, I think you should whisper something to that effect to him
24 Feb 2013, 09:34 am
#682 cont.
Entrenched in the crusading for maintenance of their despicable design of white elitism and racial infestations of apartheid apples of separatist ideology and sadly misrepresented value of Christian chimes of freedom.
24 Feb 2013, 09:36 am
As we say on the Flats, waarnatoe Stormers!
24 Feb 2013, 09:40 am
@CharlesM-693: Personally I’d be surprised if he does anything. Deon’s throwing problems are nothing new. Still persists with him at 2. He’s not one for knee jerk reactions. Even if they make sense.
Matt Proudfoot has to cop some flak there. He’s the forwards coach. That is on him mostly IMO.
24 Feb 2013, 09:40 am
@Transformation-672:
Trans….awesome result for your boys…good for you and the Kings supporters.
@Predawn-671:
Sorry Predawn for the tardiness of my reply…yeah, I know where your coming from and the Sa Political landscape is beyond my comprehension. I don’t live it, so don’t really know how I would cope. As you say the Apartheid years are long gone and I suppose many are trying to find where they stand in the new Sa, this uncertainty can cause anxiety and fear which leads to anger.
If for example..The Blues were dropped for a team I didn’t deem worthy…yes I would be angry, but the reality is, that would never happen here in Nz….which leads me back to the things happening in Sa are beyond my comprehension. I wish you all the best for the future Predawn.
24 Feb 2013, 09:48 am
SB: yes but then at least pick a “real” 4 lock to ensure some “easier” balls. I always had the view that when in trouble at lineout time, go to the front. Although it isn’t good attacking ball, it will at least provide valuable possession.
It seems that we are in for a long season of terrible lineouts!!
24 Feb 2013, 09:53 am
Is it just me, am I just biased (which I readily admit I am), or is there another reason? But the Sharks & Kings’ brand of rugby is refreshing, exciting & different from the boring, conservative stuff dished up by the Bulls, Stormers, & (to a lesser extent) the Cheetahs.
Can it be the NZ coaching staff broadening the players’ perspective?
IMO we can learn plenty from NZ.
Anyway, far too early to draw valid conclusions (& SuperRugby a competition always replete with surprises).
And the Kings have a draw from hell (the worst in the competition) – they’ve received less than zero favours from SARU & from Lady Luck.
For them things only get much more tough from hereon in.
But who knows, they may yet surprise some more – they made lots of friends last night, & I am really rooting for them. I hope the collective goodwill can lift them to unexpected achievement.
24 Feb 2013, 09:55 am
Well done to the Kings. Sergeal Petersen and Engelbrecht look like real stars. It felt good seeing a new team.
The Lions do not deserve any favours from anybody. If you don’t want to be bottom of the log, don’t be. I hope more franchises will contest to be part of the Super Rugby competition. I want to see a Kaizer Chiefs team, a North West team. Its time we get these mediocre Lions, Cheetahs etc teams out. These teams have been there since the start and was given millions of Rands and did nothing with it.
I keep hearing that Apartheid is over. Yes but whites still:
- has the lowest unemployment rate,
- has the best schools, facilities, etc,
- has the majority of the land and business in the country.
Apartheid is over, its legacy is not.
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