Cape Town - They gave it a go, and threatened to cause the upset, but in the end the Southern Kings fell just short as they were beaten 34-18 by the Blues in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
19-10 down at half time, the Kings pegged it back to 22-18 with just over 10 minutes remaining and had given themselves every chance to record just their second win of the season.
It was not to be, though, and when Billy Guyton scored the Blues' fourth try in the 69th minute the match was put to bed.
The Blues then scored with the last play of the game through Tevita Li to secure a bonus point.
The Kings scored two tries of their own through James Hall and Edgard Marutlulle while right wing Melani Nanai scored twice for the Blues.
The result means that the Kings remain bottom of the South African group, three points behind the Sunwolves.
The Blues, meanwhile, remain bottom of the New Zealand conference despite having won five and drawn one of their nine fixtures so far this season.
Next weekend sees the Kings travel to Bloemfontein for a clash against the Cheetahs.
Scorers:
Kings 18 (10)
Tries: James Hall, Edgard Marutlulle
Conversion: Elgar Watts
Penalties: Watts, Jurgen Visser
Blues 34 (19)
Tries: James Parsons, Melani Nanai (2), Billy Guyton
Conversions: Ihaia West (3)
Penalty: West
Teams:
Kings
15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Lukhanyo Am, 13 Stefan Watermeyer, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Luzuko Vulindlu, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 James Hall, 8 Cyril-John Velleman, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Steven Sykes (captain), 3 Tom Botha, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Sithembiso Sithole
Substitutes: 16 Martin Ferreira, 17 Justin Ackerman, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 Stefan Willemse, 21 Ntando Kebe, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 Leighton Ekstee
Blues
15 Lolagi Visinia, 14 Melani Nanai, 13 George Moala, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Sam Prattley
Substitutes: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Nic Mayhew, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Hoani Matenga, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Matt McGahan, 23 Male Sa’u