Port Elizabeth - A late fightback was not enough as the Southern Kings lost to Benetton at the Nelson Mandela University's Madibaz Stadium on Saturday night.

The Italian side won 22-19, after leading 17-7 at half-time.

The visitors were leading 22-7 before two late Kings tries secured the hosts a losing bonus point.

But the reality is that the Kings have won only one game out of 10 in this season’s PRO14 and are rooted to the bottom of Conference B.

Benetton have won four out of 10 games and lie fourth in the conference.

The Kings will now enjoy a year-end break with their next scheduled match against Edinburgh at Murrayfield on January 5.

Benetton’s next encounter is away to compatriots Zebre on December 23.

Scorers:

Kings

Tries: Tertius Kruger (2), Luvuyo Pupuma

Conversions: Masixole Banda (2)

Benetton

Tries: Hame Faiva (3), Monty Ioane

Conversion: Ian McKinley

Teams:

Southern Kings

15 Michael Botha, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Meli Rokoua, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Masixole Banda 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Tienie Burger 6 CJ Velleman, 5 JC Astle (captain), 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Nicolaas Oosthuizen

Substitutes: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Harlon Klaasen

Benetton

15 Angelo Esposito, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini (captain), 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Nicola Quaglio

Substitutes: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Giuseppe Di Stefano, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Alberto Sgarbi