Kings working on their 'shortcomings'

The Kings and Cheetahs go head-to-head at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday, February 12.

In the wake of their scratchy 22-16 win over the SWD Eagles last week, Davids said they will be focusing on some key areas ahead of their return to Super Rugby.

They get their campaign underway against the Sharks at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on February 27.

"It is always nice to win, but for us it is more important to get gametime under our belt," Davids said in the build-up this Friday's outing.

"Also, for the guys that have not played in a while, it is important to see them and how they come through and guys that I have not seen in the past, to see how they perform."

The Kings mentor said he also did some "positional experimentation" against the Eagles.

Against the Cheetahs there are obvious aspects the Kings want to improve on.

"How we perform in our set pieces is important and also how we play from the set pieces, the continuity we develop from our set pieces," Davids said.

The Kings coach also bolstered his front row with the acquisition of former South African Under-20 prop Sithembiso Sithole, who joined the Kings this week after featuring or the Stormers in a pre-season outing against the SWD Eagles a few weeks ago.

Sithole, 22, played three games for the Stormers last year and 12 games for Western Province since 2014. He played for SA U20 in 2013.

David said other aspects like their ability to retain possession and their ability to finish will also be key to Friday's outing.

"We had ample opportunities in the gold zone [against the Eagles last week], but a lack of patience [cost us]," he said.

"We want to see this week that when we get opportunities we get points from it and from set pieces we have the ability to retain the ball through more phases.

"We must also play a better territory game.

"I just felt last week at times we played on the wrong side of the field."

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