The Southern Kings are back in the toughest provincial rugby competition in the world, Vodacom Super Rugby, and their opening round fixture against the Cell C Sharks will leave no stone unturned as to how ready they are.
The playing field is not unfamiliar to the team from Port Elizabeth as they have had a taste of what Super Rugby is all about when they had a cameo in 2013, when they replaced the Lions.
Off field drama aside, the Southern Kings had two warm-up matches in their pre-season preparation to this year's campaign. The first one was an away match against the SWD Eagles in George which they won 22 - 16, followed by a more intense match against the Cheetahs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The match against the Cheetahs ended 21 - 11 to the visitors after the Southern Kings trailed 6 - 7 at the break. The home side showed promising signs throughout the match, putting up a brave fight after the 80 minutes when the score was still 11 - 14.
The Sharks on the other hand had a more tested pre-season as they opted for two away games against French giants, Toulon and Toulouse.
In their first match against Toulon, they survived a massive Toulon onslaught as the game reached the final minutes, but held on to record a 29 - 21 victory. Their second match against Toulouse was a more comfortable win with the visitors out scoring the home side 31 - 17.
With the all new extended tournament both squads will be tested to the fullest and with a lot of senior players that have moved on to greener pastures it will offer an opportunity for a new breed of youngsters to come through. Given an opportunity at the highest level, Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids will be out to prove a point along with youngsters like; Malcolm Jaer (20), Shane Gates (23), James Hall (19), Junior Pokomela (19) and CJ Velleman (20).
The Durbanites also have a few youngsters earnestly waiting to break through to the world stage with the likes of Thomas du Toit (20), Dan and Jean-Luc du Preez (20), Stefan Ungerer (22) and Garth April (24) ready and eager to make an impact against the best the rugby world has to offer.
In 2013 the Sharks won both encounters, 21 - 12 in Port Elizabeth and 58 - 13 in their return match in Durban, but 2016 is a new year with a new competition and new challenges.
The only question that remains, will the Rugby gods smile upon the Southern Kings, as they did in 2013 when they beat the Force 22 - 10 in their opener, when they face the Sharks on Saturday?
Kick-off is at 15:05.
Southern Kings:
15 Jurgen Visser 14 Luzuko Vulindlu 13 JP du Plessis 12 Shane Gates 11 Malcolm Jaer 10 Elgar Watts 9 Ntando Kebe 8 Jacques Engelbrecht 7 Thembelani Bholi 6 Chris Cloete 5 JC Astle 4 Steven Sykes (c) 3 Tom Botha 2 Martin Ferreira 1 Schalk Ferreira
Reserves:
16 Edgar Marutlulle 17 Sti Sithole 18 Louis Albertse 19 Schalk Oelofse 20 CJ Velleman 21 Leighton Eksteen 22 Louis Fouche 23 Charles Radebe
Sharks:
15 Willie le Roux 14 Odwa Ndungane 13 Paul Jordaan 12 André Esterhuizen 11 Lwazi Mvovo 10 Joe Pietersen 9 Cobus Reinach 8 Daniel du Preez 7 Jean-Luc du Preez 6 Marcell Coetzee 5 Hyron Andrews 4 Etienne Oosthuizen 3 Coenie Oosthuizen 2 Franco Marais 1 Beast Mtawarira (c)
Reserves:
16 Kyle Cooper 17 Juan Schoeman 18 Lourens Adriaanse 19 David McDuling 20 Philip van der Walt 21 Michael Claassens 22 Garth April 23 S’bura Sithole
Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Rodney Bonaparte (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
The playing field is not unfamiliar to the team from Port Elizabeth as they have had a taste of what Super Rugby is all about when they had a cameo in 2013, when they replaced the Lions.
Off field drama aside, the Southern Kings had two warm-up matches in their pre-season preparation to this year's campaign. The first one was an away match against the SWD Eagles in George which they won 22 - 16, followed by a more intense match against the Cheetahs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The match against the Cheetahs ended 21 - 11 to the visitors after the Southern Kings trailed 6 - 7 at the break. The home side showed promising signs throughout the match, putting up a brave fight after the 80 minutes when the score was still 11 - 14.
The Sharks on the other hand had a more tested pre-season as they opted for two away games against French giants, Toulon and Toulouse.
In their first match against Toulon, they survived a massive Toulon onslaught as the game reached the final minutes, but held on to record a 29 - 21 victory. Their second match against Toulouse was a more comfortable win with the visitors out scoring the home side 31 - 17.
With the all new extended tournament both squads will be tested to the fullest and with a lot of senior players that have moved on to greener pastures it will offer an opportunity for a new breed of youngsters to come through. Given an opportunity at the highest level, Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids will be out to prove a point along with youngsters like; Malcolm Jaer (20), Shane Gates (23), James Hall (19), Junior Pokomela (19) and CJ Velleman (20).
The Durbanites also have a few youngsters earnestly waiting to break through to the world stage with the likes of Thomas du Toit (20), Dan and Jean-Luc du Preez (20), Stefan Ungerer (22) and Garth April (24) ready and eager to make an impact against the best the rugby world has to offer.
In 2013 the Sharks won both encounters, 21 - 12 in Port Elizabeth and 58 - 13 in their return match in Durban, but 2016 is a new year with a new competition and new challenges.
The only question that remains, will the Rugby gods smile upon the Southern Kings, as they did in 2013 when they beat the Force 22 - 10 in their opener, when they face the Sharks on Saturday?
Kick-off is at 15:05.
Southern Kings:
15 Jurgen Visser 14 Luzuko Vulindlu 13 JP du Plessis 12 Shane Gates 11 Malcolm Jaer 10 Elgar Watts 9 Ntando Kebe 8 Jacques Engelbrecht 7 Thembelani Bholi 6 Chris Cloete 5 JC Astle 4 Steven Sykes (c) 3 Tom Botha 2 Martin Ferreira 1 Schalk Ferreira
Reserves:
16 Edgar Marutlulle 17 Sti Sithole 18 Louis Albertse 19 Schalk Oelofse 20 CJ Velleman 21 Leighton Eksteen 22 Louis Fouche 23 Charles Radebe
Sharks:
15 Willie le Roux 14 Odwa Ndungane 13 Paul Jordaan 12 André Esterhuizen 11 Lwazi Mvovo 10 Joe Pietersen 9 Cobus Reinach 8 Daniel du Preez 7 Jean-Luc du Preez 6 Marcell Coetzee 5 Hyron Andrews 4 Etienne Oosthuizen 3 Coenie Oosthuizen 2 Franco Marais 1 Beast Mtawarira (c)
Reserves:
16 Kyle Cooper 17 Juan Schoeman 18 Lourens Adriaanse 19 David McDuling 20 Philip van der Walt 21 Michael Claassens 22 Garth April 23 S’bura Sithole
Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Rodney Bonaparte (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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