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Yaw Penxe’s stunning late try snatched a 25-21 Pro14 victory for the Southern Kings over Edinburgh, while Munster edged out the Dragons to go top of Conference A on Saturday.
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The Kings came into the match on an eight-game losing streak stretching back to September, but they stopped the rot in dramatic fashion in Port Elizabeth.
Bjorn Basson’s solo score and eight points from the boot of Masixole Banda put the bottom side in Conference B 13-7 up at the break, Chris Dean crossing for the European Champions Cup quarter-finalists.
A penalty try and a converted Ross Ford score put Edinburgh on course for an eighth win in a row, but Bader-Werner Pretorius set up a tense finale with a try four minutes from time and Penxe took a superb offload from Meli Rokoua before scampering away for a superb winning try two minutes later.
Victory for @SouthernKingsSA ????
Eight points behind with five minutes to go? Not a problem for the Kings – astonishing comeback ?#GUINNESSPRO14 #KINvEDI pic.twitter.com/cTnuJQqGlo
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) January 26, 2019
While the Kings’ second win of the season was unexpected, it came as no surprise to see Munster edge out the Dragons 8-7 at Rodney Parade to go two points clear of Glasgow Warriors.
Jean Kleyn’s second-half try settled it after Lloyd Fairbrother barged over in the first half for the struggling home side, who are just two points better off than the Kings.
The Cheetahs dished out a nine-try 61-28 thumping to Zebre in a one-sided battle between the bottom two in Conference A, Justin Basson’s red card late on coming when the contest was long-since over.
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Meanwhile, play-off hopefuls Cardiff Blues got the better of Connacht 8-7 in another clash between two Conference A rivals.
