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PRO 14

Kings slay Dragons for first Pro14 win

Luzuko Vulindlu scores one of his two tries against the Dragons

Luzuko Vulindlu scored a try in each half as the Southern Kings finally claimed a first Pro14 win with a 45-13 drubbing of the Dragons on Friday.

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The South African side had lost all of their 16 matches in what is a maiden Pro14 campaign for the former Super Rugby franchise.

But they put the Dragons to the sword in the battle of the bottom two in Conference B at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium to get up and running at long last.

It all started so well for Bernard Jackman’s Dragons, Dorian Jones taking a superb offload from Lewis Evans and racing away for an opening try which he converted after slotting over an early penalty.

The Kings hit back with a try from Vulindlu and they led 14-13 at half-time after Masixole Banda chased down his own kick over the top and took advantage of a mistake from Ashton Hewitt to dot down.

It was all one-way traffic after the break, the home side running away with it as Vulindlu, Ruaan Lerm, Anthony Volmink and Bobby de Wee crossed to keep the Dragons waiting for a first away win in three years.

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Comments on RugbyPass

B
B 5 minutes ago
The race for All Blacks centre is far from run

Quinn Tupaea will be selected for the AB's November Tour and if his training be given the #13 jersey

16 Go to comments
H
Hammer Head 7 minutes ago
'Tonyball, ageing warriors and worrying growth' - What the Springboks learned from the Rugby Championship

I think France is the true test.

France will be greatest threat to the Boks WC ambition. I have no doubt. They are ahead of the boks on terms of time to build their team. They have massive depth. They have superstars all over the park and they have experienced blended with youth. And they are very well coached.



...

7 Go to comments
A
Andrew Nichols 7 minutes ago
The losers of the All Blacks' Rugby Championship campaign

“In terms of skillset and form, Quinn Tupaea and Leicester Fainga’anuku comfortably overshadow Ioane’s prowess as a crash-ball threat; his distribution game doesn’t stack up well against Billy Proctor, he doesn’t break tackles or finish like Leroy Carter or Caleb Clarke, and his high-ball game isn’t up to scratch at the Test level.

His strengths lie in defence, where he is second to none at keeping pace while tracking the ball as it is put through the hands, and still has an uncanny ability to save tries right on the goal line.”



...

1 Go to comments
S
SB 2 hours ago
10 Wallabies and SVNS star named in Australia A squad to play Japan XV

Interesting that Pete Samu is in this squad.

1 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

They need to build depth but yes he's been a puzzling ghost squad member

13 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 3 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

ALB can't buy game time. Apparently he is becoming less effective the less he plays. Players can’t show their ability off the field.

13 Go to comments
C
CO 4 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

Proctor offers zero off the bench as a specialist centre. He's to me a backup given his average, lack of any x factor performances. ALB hits a lot harder and not as lateral

13 Go to comments
C
CO 4 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

Leicester I like, similar directness to Quinn but Quinn has more pace.Midfield depth is getting there with Rieko and ALB. Proctor had plenty of opportunity and ran laterally and defensive lapses. Still a work on though and discard Timoci.

13 Go to comments
C
CO 4 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

How would it bite the Boks a third world cup win in a row? Is that you Rassie 😆

13 Go to comments
J
JB 4 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

BB hasn’t run in 5 years in Super or International Rugby. That can only be BB’s failing. Even from 15 his default was to kick. Occasionally he would be involved in a catch and pass and the media fan club would rave.

87 Go to comments
F
Flankly 4 hours ago
'Tonyball, ageing warriors and worrying growth' - What the Springboks learned from the Rugby Championship

Makes sense.

The Du Preez thing feels uncomforltably half-pregnant. Either Rassie needs to rack up the caps for Dan/JL, or move on from them. A player needs 10 or 15 caps to even be a reliable emergency call up in the RWC.



...

7 Go to comments
B
B 4 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

It's obvious that they'll both get selected for the AB”s November Tour…

If they're both physically and mentally fit, healthy and injury free, Jordie #12 and Quinn #13 to start vs Ireland with Proctor off the bench…



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13 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 5 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Its deliberate. He is keeping the spot open. Not that the 10s are an issue. You don’t need a Dan Carter for the backline to function. More a decent plan. I look at the Wallabies backline. It’s going very well, yet no one would select Edmed above BB or DM.

He HAS to bring in Jacomb and Reihana for the tour tho… we’ll hopefully.



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87 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 5 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

He didn’t bring those guys in this year tgo did he. Tupara is a test player from Foster's era who had a injury, lakau played last year… more injury…leister is a yest player from Foster's era and just back.

Carter and Parker are the newbies. Parker probably the only one he really wanted. Carter was injury cover and wouldn’t be near a jumper if Clarke, Narawa and Reece wernt out for periods.



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87 Go to comments
C
Carlos 5 hours ago
'If the Boks' beauty doesn't get you, its Bomb Squad beast certainly will'

Right now, my primary aerobic activity is cycling, so I’m quite familiar with their actions. You cannot imagine the carbohydrate intake per hour of activity. They train their GI systems to absorb carbohydrates faster! Ridiculous!

I do mean it that they could learn fueling from these guys.



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173 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 5 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Yeah I’d have less of an issue with it if it was working but that’s not the case. With rugby being a sport where coaches don’t get to talk to the team until halftime, you’d want to see the team coming out of the gates with at the very least renewed focus, even better with some tactical adjustments based on what’s been going on. If the assistants aren’t doing that, the head coach should at least be more capable of it. It’s like a basketball coach getting the team on a run right after a timeout. It can be purely motivational or tactical but ideally it’s a bit of both.

After the Crusaders beat the Blues in the 2022 final where they’d seemingly studied the lineout to the point where they seemed to know what every call was, I thought that was his tactical knowhow, not his assistants. Instead our setpiece has been inconsistent this year and the gameplans don’t seem to make sense. Instead it just feels like he had the benefit of all the talent on the Crusaders and the All Blacks don’t quite have that advantage in the international arena with the lack of development of the last few years.



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87 Go to comments
P
PMcD 5 hours ago
Are Wallabies still on upward trajectory after TRC or has progress flatlined?

Exeter were always pretty good about releasing Nic White. Baxter knows players want to represent their country and is usually pretty balanced about it. He’s usually pretty good about finding a sensible solution to these things.

42 Go to comments
P
PMcD 5 hours ago
'If the Boks' beauty doesn't get you, its Bomb Squad beast certainly will'

Those guys are more like “The Terminator in Lycra” rather than the skinny guys. They have to be the most precision managed athletes in sport, they even pre-determine their fuel stops related to the course profile.

When I first saw Will Stuart after the 2023 RWC, my first comment was “who did he eat” from the size he added during that tournament. he came back so much bigger.



...

173 Go to comments
R
RC 5 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

Poor take. This rotation will come back to bite the boks in the ass. They aren't as good as everyone says they are lol

13 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 5 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Oh I’m hoping he does, Mealamu and Hore were great in their later years too. I just wouldn’t want to put all our money on it. We need to have an insurance plan if it doesn’t work out. Moananu and Oudenryn were looking promising this year though.

87 Go to comments