Kings vs Bulls: Bulls smash Kings 38-6

9th April, 2016

When: 3:15am AEST
Where: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
TV: Fox Sports, live
Betting: Kings $5.10, Bulls $1.16

Kings
Jurgen Visser, Luzuko Vulindlu, Lukhanyo Am, Stefan Watermeyer, Malcolm Jaer, Louis Fouche, James Hall, Aidon Davis, Stefan Willemse, Chris Cloete, JC Astle, Steven Sykes, Tom Botha, Edgar Marutlulle, Sti Sithole.

Replacements: Martin Ferreira, Schalk Ferreira, Justin Ackerman, Schalk Oelofse, CJ Velleman, Ntando Kebe, Leighton Ekstee, JP du Plessis, Jaco van Tonder.

Bulls
SP Marais, Travis Ismaiel, Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Jamba Ulengo, Tian Schoeman, Piet van Zyl, Arno Botha, Jannes Kirsten, Lappies Labuschagne, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane.

Replacements: Bandise Maku, Pierre Schoeman, Werner Kruger, Marvin Orie, Roelof Smit, Ivan van Zyl, Francois Brummer, Dan Kriel.

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Do we just cull the weak sides to save Super Rugby? (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

The Roar

9th April, 2016

Match result:

The Kings coughed up another big margin in the final match of the round, going down to the Bulls by 32 points at home.

Final score
Kings 6
Bulls 38

Match preview:

The Kings are in for a significant challenge when they host the Bulls in Round 7 of the 2016 Super Rugby season. Join The Roar for live scores from the match, starting from 3:15am AEST.

The reborn Kings franchise has started its 2016 season with just one win from five matches so far. They started the year with four consecutive losses, going down to the Sharks (8-43), the Chiefs (24-58), the Crusaders (24-57) and Hurricanes (20-42) before finally getting their first win of the season last week against the Sunwolves (33-28).

It’s not a great start by any means – while those are all fairly good teams they’ve lost to, it’s the manner of the losses that would concern them more than anything, as they’ve given up 40+ points in all four matches and lost by anywhere between 22 and 35 points.

This week they come up against a team that has performed solidly so far this season, the Bulls. They have a record of three wins, a loss and a draw from their five games so far this season, sitting second in the Africa 1 conference but only tenth overall.

The Bulls only loss for the year so far was a 24-point beating from the Stormers in Round 1 and in the time since then they’ve recorded wins over the Rebels (45-25), the Sunwolves (30-27), and the Cheetahs (23-18), along with a 16-all draw against the Sharks.

Those aren’t unimpressive victories by any means but it would be fair to say they haven’t yet claimed a big scalp – and they won’t get that chance today either, coming up against the low-hanging Kings.

The Bulls have played the Kings twice before when they took part in the 2013 season and recorded big wins in both matches, and it looks like it’ll be a case of more of the same when the two teams meet today.

Prediction
The Bulls should record another solid victory and improve their ledger to 4-1-1, with the chance to give their points differential a real boost against a Kings side that has struggled to keep their losses honourable.

Bulls by 22.

Join The Roar for live scores from the match, starting from 3:15am AEST.

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