How Africa
The Head Coach of Southern Kings, Deon Davids enjoyed insignificant tinkering to his squad when he, earlier today, disclosed the 23 players to confront the Leinster team in a historic GUINESSPRO14 clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
This will be the Kings very first home match in the competition and in addition the first occasion that GUINESSPRO14 matches are played on South African soil and hooker Micheal Willemse will indeed have the pleasure of leading the team onto the field while centre Luzuko Vulindlu will be vice-captain of the memorable match day.
Only one change has been made in the Kings backline from the team that did duty against Connacht last weekend – scrumhalf Rudi van Rooyen coming in for Godlen Masimla who drops to the bench.
Amongst the front-row, an injury to Rossouw De Klerk has resulted in Luvuyo Pupuma being rewarded for his try-scoring performance against Connacht by being included in the starting XV while Petrus Strauss and Martin Dreyer have been brought onto the bench. There is also a change at lock where Stephan Greeff takes over from Jurie Van Vuuren.
Coach Davids cut a satisfied figure as he ran the rule over his charges during a boisterous open practice session this morning. “It’s great to be back on home soil and we are looking forward to the game against Leinster on Saturday. We plan on giving everything we have to entertain the fans and we’re hoping they turn out in large numbers to cheer us on,” he said.
Southern Kings COO Charl Crous shared similar sentiments: “There are many times that home support has given the Kings that extra bit of lift that’s necessary when things get tough and we are definitely going to need our fans to come to the party again on Saturday. We’re encouraging them to team up with us against the Northern Hemisphere throughout the GUINESSPRO14 competition and have adopted the hashtag #TeamUp for this initiative.”
Crous also confirmed that official Southern Kings supporters gear will be available to the public from mid-October. “We have had numerous requests from fans regarding this and are working as fast as we can with our suppliers to get kit for our supporters to wear. It’s unfortunately one of the side-effects of our late inclusion in the GUINNESSPRO14 but it’s one which we soon hope to have solved,” he said
Tickets for Saturday’s match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – which kicks off at 14h15 – are on sale at all Ticket Pro outlets as well as online at www.ticketpros.co.za and start from as little as R50 per ticket.
15. Full back – Masixole Banda
14. Right wing -Yaw Penxe
13. Right centre – Berton Klaasen
12. Left centre – Luzuko Vulindlu
11. Left wing – Sibusiso Sithole
10. Fly half – Kurt Coleman
9. Scrum half – Rudi van Rooyen
1. Loose head prop – Schalk Ferreira
2. Hooker – Micheal Willemse
3. Tight head prop – Luvuyo Pupuma
4. Left lock – Stephan Greeff
5. Right lock – Dries van Schalkwyk
6. Left flanker – Khaya Majola
7. Right flanker – Victor Sekekete
8. Number eight – Andisa Ntsila
Substitutes
16. Hooker – Stephan Coetzee
17. Loose Head – Petrus Strauss
18. Tight Head – Martin Dreyer
19. Lock – Bobby de Wee
20. Flank – Siyabulela Mdaka
21. Scrumhalf – Godlen Masimla
22. Utility back- Ntabeni Dukisa / Oliver Zono
23. Centre – Jacques Nel
