Kings must stop being whipping boys

PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA - OCTOBER 10: Ronnie Cooke of the EP Kings during the Absa Currie Cup match between Eastern Province Kings and Steval Pumas at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on October 10, 2014 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images)

PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA - OCTOBER 10: Ronnie Cooke of the EP Kings during the Absa Currie Cup match between Eastern Province Kings and Steval Pumas at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on October 10, 2014 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images)

Published Oct 14, 2014

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In the two top-flight competitions they’ve competed in, the Kings have managed just four wins from 26 matches. That’s simply not good enough.

The Eastern Cape-based side won three of their 16 matches in last year’s Super Rugby competition and in this year’s Premier Division of the Currie Cup they managed just one win in 10 outings; the sole victory coming by a point this last weekend against the Pumas.

The players celebrated afterwards as if they’d won the competition.

The reality is, they were poor in the Currie Cup and getting one win is hardly cause for celebration.

They performed well below what was expected of them and had they not been promised a second year in the Premier Division (2015) they’d be preparing for a promotion-relegation match against the winners of the First Division.

It is hugely disappointing the Kings haven’t performed better. They finally got into Super Rugby last year, at the expense of the Lions, started brightly, but then fell away. It’s a tough competition, especially for a new team, and one could say they did alright for a first-time showing, but what is sad is that they haven’t really built on that experience.

With some Super Rugby experience behind them, they should really have fared a lot better in the Currie Cup.

Heck, the Cheetahs were poor this year, so were the Griquas, while the Bulls also battled in parts. The Kings had a great opportunity to take some big strides, but they didn’t.

Their stats from the competition do not make for good reading. They only scored 206 points in their 10 games; they conceded almost double that (403) and let in 53 tries – that’s more than five per game on average.

It’s just not good enough for a team that in 12 months time will be starting preparations for the 2016 Super Rugby competition after having been awarded a permanent spot in the expanded format.

We hear almost non-stop about all the talent in the Eastern Cape – and while it is true some quality players have made an impression for the Kings – the overall package is not great.

One’s then got to question the coaching structures.

Is Carlos Spencer – a great guy and superb player in his day – the right man to be doing the building of the Kings team, or should someone with a little more experience in coaching, take up the reins?

It’s all good and well to include the Kings in the Currie Cup and in Super Rugby, but it’s not going to benefit anyone if they continue to be punching bags.

The Kings need to take a good, hard look at themselves and ensure that over the next year they become far more competitive than they’ve been up to now. - The Star

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