Kings prop cops ban for eye-gouging

Cape Town - The Kings will go into Saturday's PRO14 clash against South African rivals the Cheetahs without the services of tighthead prop Pieter Scholtz. 

The 24-year-old received a three-week ban on Thursday after he was cited for an eye gouge in the Kings' 38-0 loss to Edinburgh at Murrayfield last weekend. 

It means that Scholtz will miss next Saturday's derby in Port Elizabeth, the home clash against Edinburgh on January 26 as well as the return fixture against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on February 2. 

The citing commission deemed that the incident had met the red card threshold and a minimum ban of four weeks, but Scholtz was given a week's grace because of his admission of facts at the hearing. 

The Kings have had a torrid PRO14 campaign in 2018/19 and, after 11 fixtures, are rock bottom of Conference B having won one and lost 11. 

The Cheetahs, meanwhile, have won three of their 11 fixtures with a draw to sit second bottom of Conference A.