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The Emirates Western Force have gone down to the Southern Kings, 22-10, in the South African side’s Super Rugby debut in Port Elizabeth tonight.
The Force held the ball for lengthy periods through the first half, transferring it into a 10-5 half-time lead. However, the visitors responded with 17 unanswered points in the second term in front of a vocal crowd at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
For a second successive week the Emirates Western Force started well, starving their opposition of possession and holding the ball for multiple phases in the attacking half.
However, while both sides swapped missed penalty goals early, it was the Kings that opened the scoring when winger Sergeal Petersen collected a ricocheted kick from his scrumhalf Shaun Venter to sail over the try line in the 15th minute.
Four minutes later the Force launched another attacking raid in the Kings’ half, turning away an attempt at penalty goal in favour of the sideline. The decision appeared to reap almost immediate dividends when Nathan Charles crossed the try line from the back of the rolling maul, only to have the try disallowed by referee Lourens van der Merwe.
The visitors did not have to wait long to square the ledger, when, on the back of 10 phases, flanker Angus Cottrell carried two defenders to within a metre of the line, with Pek Cowan on hand to pick and drive the ball the remaining distance for the try.
While Kyle Godwin’s conversion attempt was denied by the upright, the Emirates Western Force took the lead six minutes later when Alfie Mafi darted down the left flank after intercepting a Kings pass inside his 22. Several phases later, the ball returned to Mafi’s wing via some crisp handling from outside centre Winston Stanley, to allow the winger to touch down for his third try of the season.
Trailing 10-5 at the break, the Kings struck back through the boot of flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis with penalty goals in the 45th and 52nd minute.
The Force’s cause received a further blow when lock Hugh McMeniman was issued a yellow card at the 55-minute mark for a high tackle, with Petersen capitalising on the overlap to cross for his second try five minutes later.
Catrakilis landed two further penalty attempts inside the final 15 minutes to provide his side with the 12-point win.
The Emirates Western Force will head to Pretoria next week to take on the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, 2 March.
2013 Super Rugby – Week 2
Saturday, 23 February 2013 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 7.10pm (local)/1.10am (AWST)
Southern Kings 22 (Sergeal Petersen 2 tries; Demetri Catrakilis 0/2 conversions, 4/5 penalty goals) defeated
Emirates Western Force 10 (Pek Cowan, Alfie Mafi tries; Kyle Godwin 0/1 conversion, 0/1 penalty goal; Sam Christie 0/1 conversion)
Emirates Western Force
1. Pek Cowan, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Tetera Faulkner, 4. Sam Wykes, 5. Hugh McMeniman, 6. Angus Cottrell, 7. Matt Hodgson (c), 8. Ben McCalman, 9. Alby Mathewson, 10. Sam Christie, 11. Alfie Mafi, 12. Kyle Godwin, 13. Winston Stanley, 14. Nick Cummins, 15. Will Tupou. Res: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Kieran Longbottom, 18. Toby Lynn, 19. Richard Brown, 20. Chris Alcock, 21. Mick Snowden, 22. Junior Rasolea
Coach: Michael Foley
Southern Kings
1. Schalk Ferreira, 2. Bandise Maku, 3. Kevin Buys, 4. David Bulbring, 5. Steven Sykes, 6. Cornell du Preez, 7. Wimpie van der Walt, 8. Luke Watson (c), 9. Shaun Venter, 10. Demetri Catrakilis, 11. Marcello Sampson, 12. Andries Strauss, 13. Ronnie Cooke, 14. Sergeal Petersen, 15. SP Marais. Res: 16. Edgar Marutlulle, 17. Jaco Engels, 18. Daniel Adongo, 19. Jacques Engelbrecht, 20. Johan Herbst, 21. George Whitheead, 22. Hadleigh Parkes
Coach: Matt Sexton
Yellow Cards: Hugh McMeniman (55th minute)
Red Cards: nil
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
Crowd: Not announced
By the Clock
Min Details Score
7 Kyle Godwin Missed PG 0-0
13 Demetri Catrakilis Missed PG 0-0
15 Sergeal Petersen Try 5-0
16 Demetri Catrakilis Missed Con 5-0
25 Pek Cowan Try 5-5
25 Kyle Godwin Missed Con 5-5
29 Alfie Mafi Try 10-5
30 Sam Christie Missed Con 10-5
45 Demetri Catrakilis Penalty Goal 10-8
53 Demetri Catrakilis Penalty Goal 10-11
55 Hugh McMeniman Sin Bin 10-11
60 Sergeal Petersen Try 10-16
61 Demetri Catrakilis Missed Con 10-16
66 Demetri Catrakilis Penalty Goal 10-19
71 Demetri Catrakilis Penalty Goal 10-22