By GEORGE BYRON
There was good news for Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids ahead of his team’s Super Rugby clash against defending champions the Highlanders on Saturday.
After a month-long break because of the international window, two of his most promising young guns have recovered from injury and look set to take their place in the team to play at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Kings officials said loose-forward CJ Velleman and explosive wing Malcolm Jaer had both recovered from injury and would be available for selection.
Jaer has been out of action with a broken hand since the end of April and Velleman has been sidelined since May with a broken thumb.
“When I look at our season so far we were quite competitive until the Jagueres game in Argentine,” Davids said ahead of the break.
“From thereon we had a downward spiral and the best opportunity for us was to turn it around against the Jaguares in Port Elizabeth which we did.
“So now we look forward and it is not going to be easy because we have three difficult games ahead of us. First we have the Highlanders at home and then the Lions and Stormers away. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
Davids feels his team has grown as a unit over the past 12 months.
“It has been tough. We started out in our first game not knowing how our squad was going to look, but we grew as coaching staff.
“We said from the start we will take it one game at a time and set small goals.
“At the start the scoreboard was not so important for us, although deep down inside we knew that if we pitch on the day we can be competitive
“It was tough but enjoyable and we learned a lot. The experience that the players and coaching staff have gained is valuable, and we can all look forward to building on this,” said Davids.
After a two-year break from Super Rugby the Kings have found the going tough and have managed only two wins in 12 outings.
Those wins were both at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium against the Japan’s Sunwolves and Argentina’s Jaguares.
The weekend fixtures are:
Friday: Chiefs v Crusaders, Brumbies v Reds.
Saturday: Sunwolves v Waratahs, Hurricanes v Blues, Rebels v Stormers, Cheetahs v Force, Lions v Sharks, Kings v Highlanders, Jaguares v Bulls.
Young guns bring Kings timely boost
There was good news for Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids ahead of his team’s Super Rugby clash against defending champions the Highlanders on Saturday.
After a month-long break because of the international window, two of his most promising young guns have recovered from injury and look set to take their place in the team to play at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Kings officials said loose-forward CJ Velleman and explosive wing Malcolm Jaer had both recovered from injury and would be available for selection.
Jaer has been out of action with a broken hand since the end of April and Velleman has been sidelined since May with a broken thumb.
“When I look at our season so far we were quite competitive until the Jagueres game in Argentine,” Davids said ahead of the break.
“From thereon we had a downward spiral and the best opportunity for us was to turn it around against the Jaguares in Port Elizabeth which we did.
“So now we look forward and it is not going to be easy because we have three difficult games ahead of us. First we have the Highlanders at home and then the Lions and Stormers away. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
Davids feels his team has grown as a unit over the past 12 months.
“It has been tough. We started out in our first game not knowing how our squad was going to look, but we grew as coaching staff.
“We said from the start we will take it one game at a time and set small goals.
“At the start the scoreboard was not so important for us, although deep down inside we knew that if we pitch on the day we can be competitive
“It was tough but enjoyable and we learned a lot. The experience that the players and coaching staff have gained is valuable, and we can all look forward to building on this,” said Davids.
After a two-year break from Super Rugby the Kings have found the going tough and have managed only two wins in 12 outings.
Those wins were both at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium against the Japan’s Sunwolves and Argentina’s Jaguares.
The weekend fixtures are:
Friday: Chiefs v Crusaders, Brumbies v Reds.
Saturday: Sunwolves v Waratahs, Hurricanes v Blues, Rebels v Stormers, Cheetahs v Force, Lions v Sharks, Kings v Highlanders, Jaguares v Bulls.
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