Kings break their Super duck
It was a scrappy match, littered with errors, by the worst two teams in the competition.
Defence was certainly not always at a premium – with the missed tackle count for the Kings and Sunwolves going well into double digits in the first hour.
However, in the final quarter the home team – now playing into a stiff breeze – certainly shored up their defence – holding out numerous raids deep inside their 22.
The Kings opened the scoring with a try from captain Steven Sykes, converted by Louis Fouche – as they took an early 7-0 lead after just four minutes.
Fouche added a penalty three minutes later, as he stretched their lead to 10-0 after seven minutes.
Sunwolves flyhalf Tusi Pisi added a penalty-kick minutes later and the visitors closed the gap to 3-10 after 10 minutes.
The home side was back on the attack inside the Sunwolves half and a brilliant inside pass provided Malcolm Jaer with enough space to cut through the Sunwolves defence – as he scored his team's second try.
Fouche missed the conversion as they took a 15-3 lead.
The visitors struck back with two tries in quick succession – the first by captain Shota Horie, followed by Pisi.
Pisi converted the first try to level the scores at 15-all.
Southern Kings centre Shane Gates snatched a loose ball, as it popped out the ruck, to sprint in for a 60-odd metres try.
Fouche missed the conversion as they took a 20-15 lead.
The Sunwolves scored a try on half-time, but not before Fouche added another penalty kick for the Southern Kings – as the teams went into the half-time break with the Kings leading 23-20.
The second half only came to life in the closing minutes – as the two flyhalves exchanged penalty kicks.
Fouche and Pisi added a penalty each, as the Southern Kings held onto a slender three-point lead with two minutes remaining, 26-23.
Replacement Elgar Watts scored in the 78th minute, after another massive Kings scrum won a turnover, with Fouche was spot on with the conversion as they took a 33-23 lead.
Not to be outdone the Sunwolves threw everything at the Southern Kings, with a minute remaining, and managed to score their fourth try of the game – when flying wig Akihito Yamada went over in the left corner.
The conversion was missed, but there was time left for a restart.
The Sunwolves threw everything into attack, running from their own tryline, but a knock-on near halfway allowed the Kings to walk away with a 33-28 win.
Man of the match: Centre Harumichi Tatekawa for once outplayed his more illustrious teammate Akihito Yamada, captain Shota Horie produced a high workrate, but he was among those who slipped too many tackles. Flyhalf Tusi Pisi was the Sunwolves most productive player. As Usual Kings hooker Edgar Marutlulle was a bundle of energy and captain Steven Sykes the steadying influence. However, our award goes to Kings flank Cyril-John Velleman – who epitomised the resilience that saw the Port Elizabeth-based team secure their first win.
The scorers:
For the Southern Kings:
Tries: Sykes, Jaer, Gates, Watts
Cons: Fouche 2
Pens: Fouche 3
For the Sunwolves:
Tries: Horie, Pisi, Bond, Yamada
Cons: Pisi
Pens: Pisi 2
Teams:
Southern Kings: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Siyanda Grey, 13 Stefan Watermeyer, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Louis Fouche, 9 Ntando Kebe, 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Cyril-John Velleman, 5 JC Astle, 4 Steven Sykes (captain), 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Sithembiso Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Martin Ferreira, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Kevin Luiters, 22. Elgar Watts, 23 Jaco van Tonder.
Sunwolves: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Viliami Lolohea, 13 Harumichi Tatekawa, 12 Yu Tamura, 11 Akihito Yamada, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Ed Quirk, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Liaki Moli, 5 Timothy Bond, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 2 Shota Horie (captain), 1 Keita Inagaki.
Replacements: 16 Futoshi Mori, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Yoshiya Hosoda, 21 Tomás Leonardi, 22 Yuki Yatomi, 23 Mifiposeti Paea.
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Rodney Bonaparte (South Africa)
TMO: Christie du Preez (South Africa)
