The Southern Kings participated in their first ever Super Rugby competition in 2013. They won three, drew one and lost twelve of their matches during the regular season to finish fifth and last in the South African Conference and fifteenth and last on the overall log. Their top try scorer in the competition was Wimpie van der Walt, who got six tries, and their top points scorer was Demetri Catrakilis, who scored 142 points. As a result of finishing bottom of the South African Conference, they had to play a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off series against the . The Lions beat them 44–42 on aggregate to return to Super Rugby in 2014 at the expense of the Kings.

It was also their final season in Super Rugby until 2016, when they returned after the Super Rugby competition was expanded to 18 teams.

Chronological list of events

24 November 2012: A 51-man Southern Kings wider training squad is announced prior to the 2013 Super Rugby season. 27 November 2012: Despite not being named in the initial training group, Director of Rugby Alan Solomons confirms that Kenyan loose-forward Daniel Adongo will also join up with the team. 17 December 2012: The Kings sign French hooker Virgile Lacombe. 3 January 2013: After failing to pass a fitness test following a shoulder injury, Burton Francis was released by the Kings' wider training squad and returned to . 7 January 2013: The wider training squad is cut to a core training squad of 40 players, with 13 players moving to the Vodacom Cup squad instead. 14 January 2013: Boetie Britz is recalled to the Southern Kings training squad following a knee injury to Hannes Franklin. 22 January 2013: The Kings beat Varsity Cup side 28–12 in a warm-up game. 1 February 2013: The Kings beat a Franchise XV – effectively the – 29–13 in a warm-up game. 6 February 2013: The kit for the Super Rugby season is officially launched. 9 February 2013: The Kings lose 31–41 to the in a 2013 Lions Challenge Series match. 12 February 2013: The Southern Kings core training squad is further reduced to 35 players, with seven players – Boetie Britz, Wesley Dunlop, Ross Geldenhuys, Lizo Gqoboka, Scott Mathie, Siviwe Soyizwapi and Wayne Stevens – moving to the Vodacom Cup squad instead, while prop Grant Kemp is a new inclusion in the squad. 21 March 2013: Despite being initially named in the Southern Kings squad to tour Australasia for games against , , and , Virgile Lacombe and Tomás Leonardi are recalled after the Kings fielded more than the allowed two foreigner players in their match against the . 31 March 2013: Hadleigh Parkes suffered a broken arm in the match against the and Siviwe Soyizwapi is called into the touring squad as his replacement. 7 June 2013: Two Kings players join French teams for the 2013–14 season; prop Kevin Buys joins Top 14 side CA Brive and fly-half Wesley Dunlop joins Fédérale 1 side US Montauban. 2 July 2013: Kings players Virgile Lacombe and Tomás Leonardi both leave the club after the contracts expire.

Personnel

Squad

The following players were named in the Kings squad for the 2013 Super Rugby season:

2013 Kings squad Player Union Position/s Date of birth (age) Super Rugby Kings Apps Pts Apps Pts Eastern Province Kings Lock / loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Lock – – – – Eastern Province Kings Lock 3 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Prop 13 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Fly-half – – – – Eastern Province Kings Centre / wing 24 25 – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Prop – – – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Fly-half – – – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Prop 40 10 – – Eastern Province Kings Prop 16 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Hooker 12 10 – – Eastern Province Kings Centre – – – – Eastern Province Kings Wing – – – – SWD Eagles Scrum-half – – – – SWD Eagles Prop – – – – Eastern Province Kings Wing 37 50 – – Eastern Province Kings Hooker – – – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Hooker 33 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Lock / loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Fullback – – – – Leopards Hooker 8 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Centre 55 40 – – Eastern Province Kings Lock 10 10 – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward – – – – Eastern Province Kings Centre / wing 13 10 – – Eastern Province Kings Wing – – – – Eastern Province Kings Wing – – – – Eastern Province Kings Fullback / wing – – – – Eastern Province Kings Centre 40 20 – – Eastern Province Kings Lock 69 45 – – Eastern Province Kings Fullback / wing – – – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward – – – – SWD Eagles Fullback – – – – Pumas Scrum-half – – – – Eastern Province Kings Scrum-half – – – – Eastern Province Kings Loose forward 82 55 – – Eastern Province Kings Fly-half / fullback – – – – Note: Players' ages and statistics are correct as of 23 February 2013, the date of the opening round of the competition.

Coaches and management

The Kings coaching and management staff for the 2013 Super Rugby season were:

2013 Kings coaches and management Position Name Director of Rugby Alan Solomons Head coach Matt Sexton Defence and breakdown coach Omar Mouneimne Backs and attack coach Brad Mooar Performance analyst Southy Steenkamp Strength and conditioning coach Johan Pretorius Physiotherapist James Fleming Doctor Dr Conrad van Hagen Masseur Lelani van der Merwe Assistant physiotherapist Kim Naidoo Manager Willem Oliphant Logistics manager Sydney Goba

Season

Log

The final log standings in the 2013 Super Rugby season were:

Overall standings Pos Team P W D L Bye PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 16 12 0 4 2 458 364 +94 50 38 8 2 66 2 16 12 0 4 2 448 330 +118 41 34 5 2 63 3 16 10 2 4 2 430 295 +135 43 31 5 3 60 4 16 11 0 5 2 446 307 +139 44 31 5 3 60 5 16 10 2 4 2 321 296 +25 31 23 4 2 58 6 16 10 0 6 2 382 358 +24 38 32 2 4 54 7 16 9 0 7 2 346 292 +54 30 18 1 5 50 8 16 8 0 8 2 384 305 +79 40 31 3 5 48 9 16 8 0 8 2 411 371 +40 45 34 1 4 45 10 16 6 0 10 2 347 364 −17 40 36 6 6 44 11 16 6 0 10 2 386 457 −71 41 49 4 5 41 12 16 5 0 11 2 382 515 −133 44 65 4 5 37 13 16 4 1 11 2 267 366 −99 26 34 0 5 31 14 16 3 0 13 2 374 496 −122 40 55 4 5 29 15 16 3 1 12 2 298 564 −266 27 69 2 0 24 South African Conference Pos Team P W D L Bye PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 16 12 0 4 2 448 330 +118 41 34 5 2 63 2 16 10 0 6 2 382 358 +24 38 32 2 4 54 3 16 9 0 7 2 346 292 +54 30 18 1 5 50 4 16 8 0 8 2 384 305 +79 40 31 3 5 48 5 16 3 1 12 2 298 564 −266 27 69 2 0 24 Final standings.

The final log standings in the 2013 Super Rugby promotion/relegation play-off were:

Standings Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 2 1 0 1 44 42 +2 4 4 0 1 5 2 2 1 0 1 42 44 −2 4 4 0 1 5 Final standings.

Round-by-round

The Kings' round-by-round progression throughout the season was:

Team Progression – 2013 Super Rugby season Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 R19 R20 4 (3rd) 8 (7th) 8 (7th) 8 (14th) 8 (14th) 8 (14th) 11 (14th) 15 (13th) 15 (14th) 15 (14th) 15 (14th) 20 (13th) 24 (13th) 24 (13th) 24 (14th) 24 (14th) 24 (14th) 24 (15th) 24 (15th) For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets. Key: win draw loss bye no game

Matches

The results of the Kings' matches during the season were:

Player statistics

The Super Rugby appearance record for players that represented the Kings in 2013 is as follows:

2013 Southern Kings player statistics Player name App Try Kck Pts Schalk Ferreira 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 17 2 0 10 Bandise Maku 2 2 2 2 2 16 16 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 16 2 2 18 0 0 0 Kevin Buys 3 3 3 3 3 17 17 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 17 0 0 0 David Bulbring 4 18 5 5 5 18 18 5 18 18 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 18 0 0 0 Steven Sykes 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 18 4 18 18 15 2 0 10 Wimpie van der Walt 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 17 6 0 30 Luke Watson 7 8 19 19 7 7 6 2 0 10 Cornell du Preez 8 6 6 6 8 8 6 6 6 8 8 6 6 6 6 6 16 3 0 15 Shaun Venter 9 9 9 9 9 20 9 9 9 9 9 9 20 9 9 21 9 9 18 2 0 10 Demetri Catrakilis 10 10 10 10 10 22 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 15 0 151 151 Marcello Sampson 11 11 11 11 21 21 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 14 1 0 5 Andries Strauss 12 12 22 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 0 0 0 Ronnie Cooke 13 13 13 13 13 11 11 14 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 17 2 0 10 Sergeal Petersen 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 8 4 0 20 SP Marais 15 15 15 22 15 15 15 15 15 15 10 0 0 0 Edgar Marutlulle 16 16 16 16 4 0 0 0 Jaco Engels 17 17 17 17 4 0 0 0 Daniel Adongo 18 19 19 4 19 18 22 5 0 0 0 Jacques Engelbrecht 19 8 8 8 8 19 19 19 8 8 19 8 8 8 8 8 8 17 1 0 5 Johan Herbst 20 1 0 0 0 George Whitehead 21 21 21 15 15 10 15 15 15 15 15 22 10 22 22 10 21 10 17 2 21 31 Hadleigh Parkes 22 22 12 12 11 14 14 11 7 0 0 0 Darron Nell 5 4 4 4 18 4 4 7 0 0 0 Nicolás Vergallo 20 20 20 20 9 20 20 20 20 20 20 9 20 20 9 20 20 14 1 0 5 Tomás Leonardi 18 1 0 0 0 Rynier Bernardo 18 18 5 5 18 5 5 18 18 18 10 0 0 0 Devin Oosthuizen 19 6 6 6 19 19 19 19 7 19 19 11 0 0 0 Waylon Murray 21 21 13 13 13 21 21 13 22 12 8 0 0 0 Elric van Vuuren 22 22 2 0 0 0 Hannes Franklin 16 2 2 16 16 16 16 2 16 16 10 1 0 5 Grant Kemp 17 3 3 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 3 17 17 13 0 0 0 Siviwe Soyizwapi 15 22 22 22 22 14 15 6 0 0 0 Scott van Breda 21 14 2 1 13 18 Michael Killian 11 14 14 22 4 0 0 0 Siyanda Grey 14 11 14 14 4 0 0 0 Virgile Lacombe 16 16 16 16 4 0 0 0 Shane Gates 21 21 21 21 21 12 12 22 7 0 0 0 Charl du Plessis 17 1 17 3 0 0 0 Mpho Mbiyozo 6 1 1 0 5 Thabo Mamojele 19 1 0 0 0 Aidon Davis 20 1 0 0 0 Wesley Dunlop 21 0 0 0 0 Total 18 31 185 340

See also

Southern Kings 2013 Super Rugby season

External links

References