Lions discard in Kings frame
TRANSFER NEWS: The Southern Kings have acquired the services of a former South African schools flyhalf.
The HeraldLIVE website reports that Bader Pretorius, 21, ran with the Kings at training on Tuesday and could feature in their Pro14 encounter with Edinburgh on Saturday.
Pretorius, who played Craven Week for the Sharks in 2015 and also represented the SA Schools side that year, was released by the Lions in 2017 – after featuring in their age-group sides.
“We invited Bader to Port Elizabeth to see where he stands,” Kings head coach Deon Davids, ” told the Herald.
“Another flyhalf, Garrick Mattheus, has also been here from last week and we are trying to build some expertise and vision around the flyhalf position to see where we can improve.
“We are considering all the flyhalves for Saturday’s game [against Edinburgh]. At this stage we are looking to the future and if we think a player had potential and fulfils certain skills we will give them a chance.”
Davids said Kings prop Rossouw de Klerk would be going for a scan after injuring his shoulder against Cheetahs.
“We are waiting for the result of that scan, but it does not look good. Another prop Schalk Ferreira injured his back during scrum training today. He is being treated and we are hoping for the best.”
The Kings coach said he is well aware of the dangers posed by the Richard Cockerill-coached Edinburgh team when they square up at the Nelson Mandela University’s Madibaz Stadium on Saturday.
The Port Elizabeth-based side was handed a heavy 38-0 defeat by the Scots in their first meeting of the 2018/19 season on January 5.
“They are such a dangerous side,” Davids admits.
“We know that they will be equally dangerous this week as they were when we faced them at Murrayfield earlier in the month.
“They are a side that is strong in depth, and they have quality in their forwards and strong finishers in the backline. We are hopeful that we will not see a repeat of what happened when we lost 38-0 last time around.”
The Kings have been working hard this week to ensure they are in good nick for Saturday’s match.
“The big emphasis for us will be to get our set pieces right,” revealed Davids.
“We have to get our scrums right, we have to get quality line-out ball – that will be important for us. We are going to have to sharpen up on our attack. I also felt that our game management [against the Cheetahs] there were times when we could have been in better positions when we had ball possession.
“We are working really hard to look at ourselves to improve going forward. We know the threat that they (Edinburgh) will pose. They are a quality side, who play at a high intensity.”
Davids will name his match-day squad of 23 to play Edinburgh on Friday.
Sources: Southern Kings media unit & HeraldLIVE
