Kings denied at the death by Cheetahs

Cape Town - The Southern Kings were denied history at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday when they lost to the Cheetahs with the final kick of the match - in injury time.

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The Cheetahs won 31-30 after trailing 13-5 at half-time.

The Kings led throughout the match, but an extra-time conversion by former Springbok Ruan Pienaar following a try by fullback Rhyno Smith denied the Kings what would have been a first ever victory over their visitors.

The bonus-point win for the Cheetahs saw them move up to third (out of 7 teams) in Conference A.

The Kings picked up a losing bonus point, but remain rooted to the bottom of Conference B. To their credit, they are a far more competitive side under the watchful eye of Rob Kempson.

The Cheetahs will host the Kings in Bloemfontein in the next match for both sides on Saturday, February 1.

Kick-off is at 17:00.

- Compiled by Garrin Lambley

Scorers:

Southern Kings

Tries: Bader Pretorius, Stefan Ungerer, JT Jackson

Conversions: Pretorius (3)

Penalties: Pretorius (3)

Cheetahs

Tries: Sintu Majezi (2), Wilmar Arnoldi, Rhyno Smith (2)

Conversions: Tian Schoeman, Ruan Pienaar (2)

Teams:

Southern Kings

15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 John-Thomas Jackson, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Bader Pretorius, 9 Stefan Ungerer (captain), 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Ruaan Lerm, 5 Aston Fortuin, 4 Jerry Sexton, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Substitutes: 16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Xandre Vos, 18 Ignatius Prinsloo, 19 Bobby de Wee, 20 Lusanda Badiyana, 21 Theo Maree, 22 Courtney Winnaar, 23 Andell Loubser

Cheetahs

15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Gerhard Olivier, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Chris Massyn, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Boan Venter

Substitutes: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Erich de Jager, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Chris Smit