After a slow start to the this years Currie Cup 1st Division, due to a large number of the Kings players being part of the Super Rugby squad, there is still something for the EP Kings to play for. As it stands, the Kings will be unable to finish top of the log to qualify for a promotion / relegation match against bottom of the log in the Premier Division, but reaching the final is still a possibility. No final decision has yet been made about adding two extra teams to the Premier Division in 2014.
The Kings lost both their home and away matches against the log leaders Pumas, and also two home defeats against the Leopards and Boland. They've managed to beat the Griffons, SWD and Valke away with only one home win against the Bulldogs, putting them 4th on the log and 4 points behind second place SWD.
Even though the Kings lost against the Pumas during the dying minutes of last weeks game, they still have something positive to build on when they play the Griffons at home tonight.
Currie Cup head coach, David Maidza, said there had been a few significant changes to the team, as steps were taken to manage players who had come through from a long season in Super Rugby.
Maidza said both locks from last week, namely captain Darron Nell and Steven Sykes, had picked up slight niggles from the game against the Pumas.
Tiger Mangweni will be taking over from Nell as captain, with Hannes Franklin taking up the vice captaincy role. Wayne Stevens will also come into the midfield to replace Ronnie Cooke, who has a slight shoulder injury.
Maidza also said Siyanda Grey was not available for selection, as he had to attend a funeral, while Charl Du Plessis came back into the side after his father passed away last week.
“The entire squad feels for what Charl has gone through these past few weeks, but I think what he wants to do is come back. I think he’s in the right headspace, and he wants to come back and play,” he said.
Looking back at their performance against the Pumas, Maidza said the side had definitely stepped up and had delivered a good performance, especially as the side had only played together for a short space of time.
“Our ball retention wasn’t as great as I would have liked to see it, and there were a couple of opportunities where we left some points on the field, but it was a definite improvement,” he said.
Vice Captain, Hannes Franklin said there was pressure on the team to perform well against the Griffons. “We want to perform; we’re definitely looking forward to the remainder of the Currie Cup campaign and putting ourselves in a good position for the play offs to come. We definitely want to defend the title,” he said.
With only a handful of matches remaining the Kings can not afford to lose any more games in the hope of hosting home play-offs. The Kings u19 and u21 sides had good starts last week and both will play curtain raisers leading up to the main game starting 7pm at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium tonight.
EP Kings: 15 Scott van Breda 14 Michael Kilian 13 Wayne Stevens 12 Siyabonga Mangweni (C) 11 Marcello Sampson 10 George Whitehead 9 Nicolas Vergallo 8 Tim Agaba 7 Devin Oosthuizen 6 Stefan Williemse 5 Rynier Bernado 4 Samora Fihlani 3 Charl du Plessis 2 Hannes Franklin (VC) 1 Brendon Oliver
Replacements: 16 Albie De Swardt 17 Lizo Gqoboka 18 Thabo Mamojele 19 Kuselo Moyake 20 Dwayne Kelly 21 Ntabeni Dukisa 22 Brian Skosana
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