Cape Town – The Southern Kings suffered yet another defeat in the PRO14 after they went down 29-19 to Irish side Connacht in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.

Connacht quickly rushed into a 14-0 lead after just six minutes thanks to tries from Colby Fainga’a and Tiernan O”Halloran, both of which were converted by Jack Carty.

The visitors then suffered a massive blow in the 16th minute when Peter Robb received a straight red card for dangerous play on Howard Mnisi. 

The Kings took advantage of their extra man, running in two tries in quick succession through Stefan Ungerer and Erich Cronje.

Siya Masuku converted both to tie up the scores at 14-14 after 30 minutes. 

Connacht, however, took a 17-14 lead into half-time thanks to a Carty penalty just before the break.

The second half saw the visitors extend their lead thanks to an unconverted Carty try in in the 46th minute which pushed the score out to 22-14.

The Kings responded in the 57th minute when Cronje scored his second of the match but a missed conversion meant the visitors still led 22-19.

A penalty try for Connacht with 10 minutes left put the game out of the Kings reach at 29-19 as the visitors closed out the match.

The Kings are next in action on March 21 against Edinburgh at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. 

Scorers:

Kings

Tries: Stefan Ungerer, Erich Cronje (2)

Conversions: Siya Masuku (2)

Connacht

Tries: Colby Fainga’a, Tiernan O’Halloran, Jack Carty, Penalty Try

Conversions: Jack Carty (2)

Penalty: Jack Carty

Red Card: Peter Robb

Teams

Kings

15 Masixole Banda, 14 Christopher Hollis, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Siyabonga Masuku, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Lusanda Badiyana, 5 JC Astle (captain), 4 Jerry Sexton, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Substitutes: 16 Robin Stevens, 17 Xandre Vos, 18 Pieter Scholtz, 19 Bobby de Wee, 20 Ruaan Lerm, 21 Theo Maree, 22 Tiaan Botes, 23 Josiah Twum-Boafo

Connacht

15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Jarrad Butler (captain), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Paul Boyle, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Paddy McAllister

Substitutes: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Eoghan Masterson, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Peter Robb