The Sharks lead the Africa 2 Super Rugby Conference and have won two of their three matches.
In the same conference, the Kings are in fourth place with one win and two losses.
The Sharks have played the Kings four times in Super Rugby and they have won all four.
The Durban side beat the Kings, home and away, by a combined total of 96-8 and 175-33 over the four matches, with the PE based franchise, only reaching double figures twice.
The Kings have never beaten a fellow South African side.
Match detail
We are waiting for the kick-off.
Lourens Adriaanse leads the Sharks out in his 50th game.
BEEP! We are off in Durban.
1.00: Sharks under some early pressure in the beginning.
3.00: PENALTY! Bosch lines up an easy kick and it’s good. Sharks take the lead.
5.00: The Sharks are on the attack again. Another penalty is kicked to touch. Kings are under the cosh.
6.00: The Sharks win the line-out and set up a maul. They drive over the line but the ref calls held up.
7.00: Van Wyk takes it up but the ball is lost. Sharks should have scored. Kings need to get their hands on the ball.
9.00: Reinach clears into touch in the Kings 22m after some good cover work.
11.00: The visitors clear from the lineout but fail to find touch. Sharks come straight back, Mtembu can’t hold on near the halfway line. Kings ball.
13.00: The home team loses the ball in the line-out and the Kings look to attack. Cronje kicks and finds touch on the 10 of the Sharks.
15.00: Scrum, Sharks. On their 50m. They will look to attack the close channels before sending the ball wide.
16.00: Ball goes dead. Sharks get another scrum. The visitors are holding on in Durban, but, they will need to stop the pressure mounting.
18.00: Sharks attack up the blindside, keeping the ball in close, but the defence holds firm & Botha knocks on. Scrum Kings.
19.00: The Kings win a penalty from the scrum. They kick to touch just short of the home side’s 22.
20.00: Kings lose their throw and the chance is gone. They will need to do better in the set pieces.
21.00: TRY! A bit of aerial ping-pong ensues before a charge down allows Ruaan Lerm to score for the Kings. What a turnaround.
22.00: Cronje converts and the visitors lead.
23.00: The hosts attempt to hit back immediately from the restart, but a handling error ends the move. Scrum Kings on their 22.
24.00: Kings clear from the scrum, fielded by Ndungane, who counters; scrum on halfway.
25.00: But the Sharks wins a penalty after a kick by Banda. They opt for touch and Bosch finds it on the Kings 22.
26.00: Sharks attacking. PENALTY! Referee Egon Seconds loses patience for repeat infringements and Ross Geldenhuys is sent to the bin with a YELLOW card.
27.00: TRY! A strong maul by the Sharks forwards sees Lourens Adriaanse go over for a try in his 50th game.
28.00: Bosch misses the conversion but, the Sharks lead.
29.00: The ball is lost by the Sharks. Scrum close to the half way line for the Kings.
30.00: Ralepelle knocks on in defence, scrum Kings. Substitute is necessary for the scrum, Andisa Ntsila making way for Justin Forwood.
32.00: TRY! Against the run of play. The Kings need to hold on while they’re down a man. Curwin Bosch chip kicks and regains. A mistake wide by the Sharks sees Makazole Mapimpi race clear for the try line.
33.00: Cronje with the conversion.
34.00: The restart is deep, & the Kings clear to just beyond halfway.
35.00: Bosch fails to find touch, but the visitors make no such mistake and the hosts have another lineout just past halfway.
37.00: The Sharks attack but knock on after some good D from the visitors. Sharks hurting themselves with poor handling.
38.00: Geldenhuys returns for the Kings and they win a penalty. Cronje kicks to the 22.
39.00: Home team under some late first-half pressure. Kings lose the ball forward.
40.00: A bit of back & forth kicking follows the mark; lineout on 10m to the visitors.
41.00: PENALTY! Cronje opts for the three but misses. Very unusual by the flyhalf, who barely misses from the tee.
The halftime score is Sharks 8 Kings 14
Both sides back out on the field, with the Kings to kick off.
BEEP! We are up and running for the second period.
41.00: OOPS! Mapimpi kicks out on the full 40m out.
43.00: SCRUM PENALTY! For the Sharks in a kickable position just outside the Kings’ 22.
44.00: Bosch makes no mistake this time.
45.00: Scrum Sharks ball close to their own 22. Reinach clears into touch after the scrum.
46.00: PENALTY! Interference in the lineout hands the visitors a penalty.
47.00: Cronje just doesn’t miss, he restores the Kings’ lead to six.
48.00: Sharks win a penalty and kick to touch.
49.00: Scrum deep inside their own half for the Kings after the hosts lose the ball.
50.00: Substitutes are starting to enter the field of play.
51.00: Van Wyk runs the ball up in the midfield but he loses it in contact. Scrum. Kings ball on their own 10. The Sharks have been poor with the ball in hand. The Kings, on defence, excellent.
55.00: Cronje kicks out on the full, Sharks win the line out on 50m. A solid carry by Andre Esterhuizen carries play inside Kings’ territory.
58.00: some scrappy play as the teams cancel each other out in midfield.
59.00: Injury break. The Kings is awarded a penalty for offside play at the scrum. They opt for touch.
61.00: Kings win their own line-out ball just inside their own 10. The ref awards a penalty for a high tackle and Cronje kicks for touch.
64.00: TRY! Sharks finally get over. Kobus van Wyk scores.
65.00: Bosch can’t add the extras. Kings still lead.
68.00: A bit of aerial ping-pong and the Kings have the ball.
69.00: The clock is running down. The Sharks might rue the Bosch missed kicks. They haven’t been good today, though.
70.00: PENALTY! Bosch will go for it inside his half.
71.00: It’s good. Bosch gives the hosts the lead.
73.00: The restart is secured by the Sharks. Bosch clears to just short of halfway.
76.00: The Kings return a kick to touch on the halfway. The Sharks are hanging on. Barely.
78.00: PENALTY! The Sharks give away a penalty at the lineout just inside their half. Cronje will line up from the far left-hand side.
80.00: MISS! It’s wide. Sharks keep the ball in tight as the full-time hooter goes, and Claassens gives it to April to punt out. GAME OVER!
Sharks hold on and Kings still don’t have a win over South African opposition.
The final score is Sharks 19 (8) Kings 17 (14)
Scorers
Sharks
Tries – Adriaanse, Van Wyk
Pen – Bosch (3)
Con –
Drop –
Cards –
Kings
Tries – Lerm, Mapimpi
Pen – Cronje
Con – Cronje (2)
Drop –
Cards – Yellow (Geldenhuys, 26th minute), (Cloete, 66th minute)
Match Officials
Referee: Egon Seconds
Assistant Ref 1: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Ref 2: Cwengile Jadezweni
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Teams
Sharks
15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Odwa Ndungane, 10 Bernhard Janse van Rensburg, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu (captain), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Daniel du Preez, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Garth April.
Southern Kings
15 Masixole Banda, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Waylon Murray, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira (captain).
Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Justin Forwood, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Stefan Willemse, 21 Johan Steyn, 22 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 23 Johann Tromp
