Southern Kings Head Coach Deon Davids made few changes to his squad for Saturday’s first Guinness Pro14 home fixture against Irish side Leinster.
Michael Wilemse will once again have the honours of leading the Southern Kings onto the field for the first Guinness Pro14 match to be played on South African.
He will be supported by vice-captain and centre, Luzuko Vulindlu.
“Only one change has been made in the Kings backline from the team that did duty against Connacht last weekend. Scrumhalf Rudi van Rooyen comes in for Godlen Masimla who drops to the bench,” according to a Southern Kings statement on Thursday.
“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.”
“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,” said Davids.
Southern Kings COO Charl Crous agreed. “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 Guiness Pro 14 competition and have adopted the hashtag #TeamUp for this initiative,” Crous said.
He also said 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 Guinnes Pro 14 but it’s one which we soon hope to have solved,” he said
The match kicks off at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium at 14h15.
