Kings struggle past 12-man Jaguares
It's hard to believe that this was Super Rugby, that this is the competition has degenerated to after 20 years. In 1996 the stadiums were full, the rugby exciting, the good things that the great players did were the centre of conversation.
That it should come to this. The beautiful stadium that can hold 46 000 people had a light peppering of spectators in some places – 3 577 of them, and you knew that the other 42 423 had been wiser, had made the better choice.
We had players on the field, professional players, playing first class rugby, who, on both sides, could not catch and pass, and if you cannot catch and pass you cannot play rugby at any level.
There were two teams who had a flagrant disregard for the Laws of the Game. In all there were 26 penalties in the match. At one stage the Kings were down 14-7 on the penalty count but gathered a few later in the match when the Jaguars unravelled.
The official score was 29-22 but the actual score was probably 15-12, for the Jaguares went on a suicidal trip that earned them two red cards and a yellow card. The third one was the yellow card for Tomás Lezana when he collapsed a maul moments after the referee had warned the Jaguares against collapsing the maul. When Lezana went off there were ten minutes to play and the Argentinians were leading 22-10. In those last 10 minutes the Kings scored 19 points and took home a full house of match points.
In the first half, Wandile Mjekevu tripped a Jaguar but it was not considered worth a yellow card, just (sic) a penalty.
There is not much more to say, except to record the happenings of the match, which started after a delay while the referee's communication gear was installed. Eventually it worked.
Strangely for Port Elizabeth, there was no wind and it was warm enough to be jacket-less. It all suggested the possibility of a great game for these two sides who have no ambitions except to play the game enjoyably.
In the first action inside the first minute a bit of friendly fire sent Jürgen Visser off on a mobile stretcher, for Stefan Willemse's left knee had struck his head-neck area. Visser's replacement was Dewald Human who played for South African Schools in 2013 when he was s till at Outeniqua High.
A little bit later the Jaguares went offside and Louis Fouché goaled. 3-0 after 2 minutes. It could have been 6-0 when the Jaguares were penalised at the first of the match's messy scrums but the straightforward kick went astray.
The Jaguares gave the impression of wanting to play. Martín Landajo tapped the first penalty inside his half which set Facundo Isa racing down the left touchline and over two Kings till tackled. Landajo tapped the second penalty as well. But at the fourth penalty – against Schalk Ferreira at a scrum – Nicolás Sánchez made it 3-all after 16 minutes.
Two penalties helped Jaguares to set up two five-metre line-outs. But the Kings were resolute on defence. From the second one on their right, Sánchez kicked a high diagonal to the far left where Emiliano Boffelli rose up above short Human, caught the ball and scored – or thought he had.
Meanwhile the referee's attention was drawn to possible foul play at the ruck thing that produced the ball that Sánchez kicked. There it could be seen clearly that lock Tomás Lavanini had driven in low from the side and with his shoulder into the neck and head of Schalk Oelofse. The 'try' was cancelled and Lavanini was shown a red card. Earlier this year he was suspended for charging in knee first into William Small-Smith who had just scored a try.
Human broke from a line-out and Aidon Davies carried it on but, yet again, bad handling killed the promising move.
The Kings went left where Human grubbered into the Jaguares' in-goal. Mjekevu was first to the ball but knocked it on.
Instead it was the Jaguares who scored when Sánchez goaled a penalty against Stefan Watermeyer for a deliberate knock-on. 6-3 to the Jaguares after 34 minutes.
The Jaguares added to their problems when tighthead prop Ramiro Herrera was shown a red card for replicating what Lavanini had done. This time it was the head and neck of Stephen Sykes that received the shoulder blow.
Two penalties in quick succession gave the Kings a five-metre line-out. Edgar Marutlulle was stopped right at the line but the Jaguares won a turnover and Sánchez cleared.
Half-time came with a score a lowly 6-3. It was not an absorbing half.
Early in the second half the Kings were penalised at a tackle and Sánchez boosted the score to 9-3 after 42 minutes. Then when Shane Gates was offside at a knock-on Sánchez made it 9-3 after 46 minutes and 15-3 after 51 minutes. It could have been more had Sánchez and Juan Martín Hernández not missed dropped goal attempts from in front of the posts.
Two penalties gave the Kings attacking line-outs. They peeled round the front for the second one but ended in touch for a Jaguares throw. The Argentinians won the line-out and Landajo kicked to clear. But immediately he kicked, Ferreira charged it down and had no difficulty falling on the kind ball for a try. From far out Fouché converted. 15-10 to the Jaguares after 59 minutes.
The 13-man Jaguares then attacked charging up the field with pick-'n-drive in 21 one-pass phases till strong Isa burst over for a try. 22-10 with 17 minutes to play.
With 10 minutes to play JP du Plessis replaced Watermeyer in the centre and the Kings' running improved but it seems their main boost came when Lezana was yellowcarded.
The resultant penalty was five-metres from the Jaguares' line and, unsurprisingly, the Kings put down a scrum, shoved the Jaguares quickly back and were rewarded with a penalty try when the scrum fell down. 22-17 with 9 minutes to play.
Inside their 22, the Kings went left, then right, then left again – their handling suddenly improved – and when Human skated over for a try in the left corner there were three more Kings on his outside, which made sense as the Jaguares were without three players. 22-22 and then Fouché kicked the conversion. 24-22 to the Kings with 6 minutes to play.
A penalty kick against Felipe Ezcurra at a tackle gave the Kings a line-out. They mauled to the line and there Mjekevu was on hand to score. 29-22.
The Jaguares had nothing left.
Man of the Match: The gut feeling says nobody was, not in this match. But if you were to choose a King you would choose their excellent scrumhalf Ntando Kebe, a 28-year-old from Fort Beaufort who is now in his fourth provincial setup. If you considered one of the Jaguares you would choose strong, forceful Facundo Isa. Our choice is Ntando Kebe who did not put a foot wrong but gave excellent, quick service and kicked recoverable kicks...
Scorers:
For Southern Kings:
Tries: Ferreira, Penalty try, Human, Mjekevu
Cons: Fouché 3
Pen: Fouché
For Jaguares:
Try: Isa
Con: Sanchez
Pens: Sanchez 5
Yellow card: Tomás Lezana (Jaguares, professional foul – collapsing the maul, 70)
Red cards: Tomás Lavanini (Jaguares, dangerous play – shoulder charge to the head, 25), Ramiro Herrera (Jaguares, dangerous play – shoulder charge to the head, 38)
Teams:
Southern Kings: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Lukhanyo Am, 13 Stefan Watermeyer, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Wandile Mjekevu, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Ntando Kebe, 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Stefan Willemse, 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Steven Sykes (captain), 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Justin Ackerman, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 Jacques Engelbrecht, 21 Kevin Luiters, 22 Dewald Human, 23 Phillipus du Plessis.
Jaguares: 15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Orlando, 13 Segundo Tuculet, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Emiliano Boffelli , 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Tomás Lezana, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Santiago García Botta.
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Ramiro Moyano.
Referee: Nick Briant
