The Southern Kings will travel to Johannesburg this weekend to face the Vodacom Super Rugby log leaders, the Lions, at Ellis Park on Friday evening.
The Lions have been ruthless this year, having only lost three out of thirteen matches up to date, while the visitors on the other hand could only manage two wins from their thirteen matches.
The Lions have done particularly well against their fellow country-men, beating all the other South African franchises. Only the New Zealanders have been a thorn in their flesh with home losses against the Crusaders and Hurricans and one away loss against the Highlanders.
With more than double the amount of tries the Kings have scored and a total of six try bonus points, Ellis Park could turn into a try scoring frenzy for the Lions.
The Southern Kings have struggled throughout the season only being competitive until the last quarter of a match before the competition put them to the sword.
They have had a few see-saw battles this season, particularly against New Zealand opposition.
Against the Hurricanes they trailed by two at half time, 17 - 19, and still within range at 20 - 25 heading into the final ten minutes. The Hurricanes however scored seventeen unanswered points as the game ended 20 - 42.
The match against the Blues, the Kings trailed 10 - 19 at the break and still within a three pointer as the match reached the final quarter, 18 - 21. The Blues scored thirteen points in the final twenty minutes as the game ended 34 - 18.
In their last home game the Kings faced the Highlanders and again it was a two point ball game up untill the seventieth minute as the Kings trailed 18 - 20. The floodgates however opened during the final ten minutes as the Kings could not fill all the holes in their defense. The visitors scored four unanswered tries as the match ended 48 - 18.
In the first match played in Port Elizabeth, the Lions scored twenty four second half points to beat the Kings 45 - 10. The Kings tend to slip tackles during the final quarter's of a match and if they start leaking tries on Friday it will get ugly. The Kings slipped eleven tries in their 73 - 27 defeat against the Jaguares and eight tries in their 53 - 0 defeat against the Sharks.
The Lions will be oozing confidence after a convincing victory against the Sharks last weekend. The Sharks had no answers as the Lions scored thirty seven unanswered points and only took their foot off the pedal in the final twenty minutes for the Sharks to score ten points as the match ended 37 - 10.
With only two more matches remaining before the play-offs, the Lions can't afford to be complacent against the Kings if they want to keep that top spot on the log.
The Kings have made six changes to their side, including a new captain in Edgar Marutlulle. Three players will be making their Super Rugby debut, one in the starting xv and two on the bench. Andisa Ntsila comes in on the flank to replace CJ Velleman, who got injured during the opening minutes in their last match, while Sintu Manjezi and the SA u20 captain, Jeremy Ward, play off the bench.
Jaco Kriel will again lead the Lions as they are in search of their fifth straight win.
Kick-off is at 19:00.
Emirates Lions:
15 Andries Coetzee 14 Ruan Combrinck 13 Lionel Mapoe 12 Rohan Janse Van Rensburg 11 Courtnall Skosan 10 Elton Jantjies 9 Faf de Klerk 8 Ruan Ackermann 7 Warwick Tecklenburg 6 Jaco Kriel (captain) 5 Franco Mostert 4 Andries Ferreira 3 Julian Redelinghuys 2 Malcolm Marx 1 Dylan Smith
Replacements:
16 Armand van der Merwe 17 Corne Fourie 18 Jacques van Rooyen 19 Lourens Erasmus 20 Cyle Brink 21 Ross Cronje 22 Howard Mnisi 23 Sylvian Mahuza
Southern Kings:
15 Malcolm Jaer 14 Lukhanyo Am 13 Stefan Watermeyer 12 Shane Gates 11 Wandile Mjekevu 10 Louis Fouche 9 James Hall 8 Aidon Davis 7 Stefan Willemse 6 Andisa Ntsila 5 JC Astle 4 Schalk Oelofse 3 Jacobie Adriaanse 2 Edgar Marutlulle (Captain) 1 Sithembiso Sithole
Replacements:
16 Martin Bezuidenhout 17 Schalk Ferreira 18 Tom Botha 19 Sintu Manjezi 20 Jacques Engelbrecht 21 Ntando Kebe 22 Dewald Human 23 Jeremy Ward
The Lions have been ruthless this year, having only lost three out of thirteen matches up to date, while the visitors on the other hand could only manage two wins from their thirteen matches.
The Lions have done particularly well against their fellow country-men, beating all the other South African franchises. Only the New Zealanders have been a thorn in their flesh with home losses against the Crusaders and Hurricans and one away loss against the Highlanders.
With more than double the amount of tries the Kings have scored and a total of six try bonus points, Ellis Park could turn into a try scoring frenzy for the Lions.
The Southern Kings have struggled throughout the season only being competitive until the last quarter of a match before the competition put them to the sword.
They have had a few see-saw battles this season, particularly against New Zealand opposition.
Against the Hurricanes they trailed by two at half time, 17 - 19, and still within range at 20 - 25 heading into the final ten minutes. The Hurricanes however scored seventeen unanswered points as the game ended 20 - 42.
The match against the Blues, the Kings trailed 10 - 19 at the break and still within a three pointer as the match reached the final quarter, 18 - 21. The Blues scored thirteen points in the final twenty minutes as the game ended 34 - 18.
In their last home game the Kings faced the Highlanders and again it was a two point ball game up untill the seventieth minute as the Kings trailed 18 - 20. The floodgates however opened during the final ten minutes as the Kings could not fill all the holes in their defense. The visitors scored four unanswered tries as the match ended 48 - 18.
In the first match played in Port Elizabeth, the Lions scored twenty four second half points to beat the Kings 45 - 10. The Kings tend to slip tackles during the final quarter's of a match and if they start leaking tries on Friday it will get ugly. The Kings slipped eleven tries in their 73 - 27 defeat against the Jaguares and eight tries in their 53 - 0 defeat against the Sharks.
The Lions will be oozing confidence after a convincing victory against the Sharks last weekend. The Sharks had no answers as the Lions scored thirty seven unanswered points and only took their foot off the pedal in the final twenty minutes for the Sharks to score ten points as the match ended 37 - 10.
With only two more matches remaining before the play-offs, the Lions can't afford to be complacent against the Kings if they want to keep that top spot on the log.
The Kings have made six changes to their side, including a new captain in Edgar Marutlulle. Three players will be making their Super Rugby debut, one in the starting xv and two on the bench. Andisa Ntsila comes in on the flank to replace CJ Velleman, who got injured during the opening minutes in their last match, while Sintu Manjezi and the SA u20 captain, Jeremy Ward, play off the bench.
Jaco Kriel will again lead the Lions as they are in search of their fifth straight win.
Kick-off is at 19:00.
Emirates Lions:
15 Andries Coetzee 14 Ruan Combrinck 13 Lionel Mapoe 12 Rohan Janse Van Rensburg 11 Courtnall Skosan 10 Elton Jantjies 9 Faf de Klerk 8 Ruan Ackermann 7 Warwick Tecklenburg 6 Jaco Kriel (captain) 5 Franco Mostert 4 Andries Ferreira 3 Julian Redelinghuys 2 Malcolm Marx 1 Dylan Smith
Replacements:
16 Armand van der Merwe 17 Corne Fourie 18 Jacques van Rooyen 19 Lourens Erasmus 20 Cyle Brink 21 Ross Cronje 22 Howard Mnisi 23 Sylvian Mahuza
Southern Kings:
15 Malcolm Jaer 14 Lukhanyo Am 13 Stefan Watermeyer 12 Shane Gates 11 Wandile Mjekevu 10 Louis Fouche 9 James Hall 8 Aidon Davis 7 Stefan Willemse 6 Andisa Ntsila 5 JC Astle 4 Schalk Oelofse 3 Jacobie Adriaanse 2 Edgar Marutlulle (Captain) 1 Sithembiso Sithole
Replacements:
16 Martin Bezuidenhout 17 Schalk Ferreira 18 Tom Botha 19 Sintu Manjezi 20 Jacques Engelbrecht 21 Ntando Kebe 22 Dewald Human 23 Jeremy Ward
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