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Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has applauded the work-rate of the Southern Kings players.
The Kings recorded their second consecutive Australian Super Rugby scalp after thumping the Melbourne Rebels 44-3 in Port Elizabeth at the weekend.
It was a momentous result for the Kings as it was the first time since their debut season in 2013 that they had won back-to-back matches in Super Rugby and it was also their biggest win ever in the competition.
“It was a good day for the Kings and it this match was miles better than the Rebels against the Sharks last weekend,” Mallett said in the SuperSport studio.
“What’s been good about this Kings team is the work-rate of the players. They get off the floor and back into position quickly, they are contesting the ruck and making sure they slow down and spoil it for the opposition. That all contributed to the Rebels’ hopelessness.
“At least the Kings managed to score tries to entertain us. I thought the eighthman Andile Ntsila and both the wingers (Wandile Mjekevu and Makazole Mapimpi), as well as the replacements all played exceptionally well.”
Mallett did however admit that the Rebels were not up to scratch.
“The Rebels have very little cutting edge. They are structured and play off No 9 a lot, but in this game they played without a scrumhalf because both their No 9s were injured. It was a really shocking Rebels display. They were absolutely abject and we could see in the post-match presentation their captain was bemused as to how they could possibly have played so poorly.”
