The Kings suffered an 11th successive defeat in the Pro14 as they slumped to a 37-7 loss against Edinburgh at Myreside Stadium on Friday night.
Although the Kings started this clash with plenty of endeavour, they were ultimately no match for their Scottish hosts in wet and muddy conditions.
Despite a scoreless opening quarter, Edinburgh took control of proceedings before half-time as lock Grant Gilchrist scored an opportunistic try, while fullback Blair Kinghorn finished off a sweeping backline movement soon after to hand his side a handy 15-0 lead.
Edinburgh then effectively sealed the result just before the hour mark when South Africans Jaco van der Walt and Duhan van der Merwe combined for the latter to score, which sent the home side into an unassailable 25-0 lead.
Replacement Cameron Fenton went over for Edinburgh’s bonus-point try in the 71st minute, while the Kings finally got on the scoreboard when Ntabeni Dukisa scored a consolation try late in the game.
The @SouthernKingsSA get themselves on the scoreboard against @EdinburghRugby with a late try from Ntabeni Dukisa 🏉#EDIvKIN#GUINNESSPRO14 pic.twitter.com/LWtOMIZVCl
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) January 5, 2018
However, Edinburgh would put an emphatic seal on proceedings when winger Dougie Fife went over for the team’s fifth and final five-pointer.
Edinburgh – Tries: Grant Gilchrist, Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe, Cameron Fenton, Dougie Fife. Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (3). Penalties: Van der Walt (2).
Kings – Try: Ntabeni Dukisa. Conversion: Dukisa.
Edinburgh – 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Nathan Fowles, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Tools, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Jordan Lay.
Subs: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Elliot Millar-Mills, 18 Matt Shields, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Damien Hoyland.
Kings – 15 Ntabeni Dukisa, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Martin du Toit, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Bredenkamp Eitel, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3, Russow de Klerk, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 1 Schalk Ferreira (c).
Subs: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Njabulo Gumede, 18 Pieter Scholtz, 19 Lindokuhle Welemu, 20 Fredy Ngoza, 21 Rowan Gouws/Godlen Masimla, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Masixole Banda.
Photo: Edinburgh Rugby/Twitter
