Southern Kings coach Deon Davids pulled no punches after his side went down 42-19 to the Lions at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, accusing his players of making life difficult for themselves.
Southern Kings coach Deon Davids pulled no punches after his side went down 42-19 to the Lions at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, accusing his players of making life difficult for themselves.
"I'm very disappointed in the performance of the team today. I just think that we let ourselves down," he said. "You can only win games if you have good possession – and I think our scrums and lineouts let us down throughout the game."
Davids credited his team for improving in the second half, after having trailed 35-12 at half-time. However, he claimed that they could have capitalised on more opportunities inside the opposition 22.
He said he would receive feedback on medical assessments given to Malcolm Jaer and Old Andrean Ross Geldenhuys tomorrow.
Lionel Cronje, the captain on the day, was in much better spirits than his coach. He said: "I'm just focusing on the positives. We held ball really well in the second half and I think that we can really improve and go off that. We got a lot of energy from the little bit of ball that we got."
Johan Ackermann, Davids' opposite number, said: "[The Kings] started well off that chargedown. It was a good fightback from the guys and some great rugby in the first half, but the second half was very disappointing."
"Against a New Zealand side, we would have got punished, so it probably shows we need to lift our game."
When asked how he felt about speculations that the Southern Kings would be booted out of Super Rugby, he said that while he did not want the competition to lose them, there were many factors to consider and it was not his choice to make.
Warren Whiteley, who led the Lions out for the 50th time today, was complimentary of their opponents. He said: "Credit must go to the Kings. I could feel they played with great intensity in that second half and they started really well. They probably would have scored a couple of times if they hadn't lost possession, so we were fortunate there."
Later in the week, the Southern Kings will announce a 28-man touring squad.
They are off next weekend, but will be back in action on 9 April, when they face Western Force.
