DEON DAVIDS PLEASED WITH NEW RECRUITS

Rugby news from the Home of the Kings:

DEON DAVIDS PLEASED WITH NEW RECRUITS:

The Isuzu Southern Kings Head Coach, Deon Davids, is pleased with the progress being made by new recruits Meli Rokoua and Tertius Kruger, who joined the Port Elizabeth-based side’s this week.

Following a two-week tour of Wales and Italy, the Isuzu Southern Kings had a week’s break before resuming with their preparations for the Guinness PRO14 Round 7 which will be played next week. When the team regathered on Monday, they welcomed Fijian centre-cum-winger, Rokoua, and former Free State Cheetahs centre, Kruger to the camp.

Also with the team this week on a trial basis is hooker, Jannes Snyman, while scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer is expected to arrive in Port Elizabeth to be reunited with the Isuzu Southern Kings at the end of the month after completing his time with Currie Cup side, the Pumas.

“We have Jannes Snyman here on trial. He has played Varsity Cup for University of Johannesburg and he played Currie Cup rugby for the Free State Cheetahs,” Coach Davids explained.

“Meli (Rokoua) and Tertius (Kruger) are now with us, and we will have Stefan Ungerer also joining us soon. We are happy to have the guys here.

“Since they joined in the team at training on Monday, they have trained well. We did a few fitness tests and they both passed those. We are now giving them a chance to gel into the squad and to get used to our systems and structures.”

Davids indicated that the squad recruitment process is still ongoing, specifying that the side is on the lookout for an additional hooker. The importance of adding another hooker was compounded after the side’s defeat to Benetton in the last Guinness PRO14 fixture when captain, Michael Willemse, sustained a shoulder injury.

“Mikey (Willemse) will be going for an MRI scan on Wednesday, and we will know the extent of the injury then. We are a bit concerned at the moment because we do not know what the prognosis is as yet, so we will have to wait for the results on Wednesday,” explained the head coach.

“We think that hooker is a position that we still need to beef up.”

In an effort to improve on certain areas of the team’s play, the Isuzu Southern Kings have this week obtained the services of renowned kicking consultant, Vlok Cilliers, and SA under-20 coach Chean Roux to assist in sharpening some tactical areas.

“There were some areas in our game that we felt we needed some improvements. Obviously with our backs, our kicking game is important for us, the decisions that we make and our tactics around that; I thought that Vlok Cilliers has been around and is experienced in that area. He has made some tremendous input. So we would like to continue using him from time to time,” said Davids.

“In terms of our set pieces, the last time we played against Scarlet and Benetton we struggled a bit in stopping mauls and getting our stuff going effectively. I felt a different voice and looking at things more tactically would suit us. Chean Roux has got that experience. He has made some valuable input. We want to tidy some things up before a new forwards coach arrives.”

The Isuzu Southern Kings are eager to play at the Nelson Mandela University again next weekend where they will face the Scarlets on Friday, October 26.

On their last visit to the Madibaz Stadium, the side registered their first win of the season by beating an unbeaten Glasgow Warriors side 38-28.

“It’s fantastic that we are going back to the Nelson Mandela University. The last time we played there we came back with a really good result, and we hope to get a good result again next week,” said Davids.

“We were obviously grateful for the support we received at Madibaz Stadium, and we hope that for the upcoming game we can have even more support.

“I do think that it is a good thing that we can spread the game and play there – in a close environment which the players enjoyed the last time.”

The match against Scarlets will kickoff at 19h00 next week Friday. Tickets for the match are on sale at all TicketPro outlets at R20.

Southern Kings