Davids: We have something to build on
With the odds stacked against them heading into this year's tournament, the match against the Japanese outfit was always going to be seen as the Kings' best opportunity for a win.
Now that they have got it after the 33-28 success at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, head coach Deon Davids wants his team to go out and do it again.
"It's good for us because we have something to build on," said Davids after the game.
"Just as losing can become a culture, winning can also become a culture. It's always important that you stay in the moment and you are realistic in terms of what helps you get the result and what are the areas you still need to improve on.
"In this competition, you can't dwell too much on a loss or a win. You have to get your focus quickly back because of the next challenge that lies ahead."
Davids said the team learnt from their mistakes in previous matches this season, which helped them get past the Sunwolves.
"Throughout the week we made it a point to focus more on correcting errors in our system and also look at our one-on-one tackles and making guys accountable for defending their channel.
"We also had a specific strategy in the sense that we know that they [Sunwolves] are a team who likes to have quick ball and use the width of the field – so we had to slow them down at the breakdown and for that we needed proper tackles and we needed someone in there to slow their ball down and I think it worked out at the end of the day for us," Davids added.
One player who has consistenly performed well for the Kings this year is wing Malcom Jaer.
The 20-year-old was one of the try scorers for the Port Elizabeth outfit on Saturday and received a lot of praise from Davids.
"I don't think Malcom Jaer had a bad game up to this point. He is just tremendous in terms of the spirit that he portrays as a youngster who grabbed his opportunity.
"It shows it is not all about skill, but a combination of skill and character. I think he was special with ball in hand and he is more of a senior player in the team. If he keeps on going like this then he is going to inspire a lot of young guys, especially with his frame," said Davids.
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