Head Coach Barend Pieterse announced that Ricky Schroeder will captain the EP Kings in their next Currie Cup match against the Blue Bulls at Loftus after regular captain Schalk Ferreira has not recovered from a groin injury he picked up against Boland last week.
Pieterse also made four changes to his starting line up, including two positional changes, with Siviwe Shakes Soyizwapi moving from fullback to right wing to replace Alcino Isaacs and Johan Tromp moving to fullback from outside centre.
Pieterse has also called up Burton Klaasen from the bench, to fill outside centre, while John Forwood also moves off the bench to replace Ferreira at prop.
Four new players join the bench, including Barend Potgieter, Ettienne Oosthuizen, Luke van der Smit and Minenhle Mthethwa.
Pieterse said he was expecting a tough game against the Bulls at Loftus.
"We can expect a very physical confrontation up front, with the backline looking at spreading the ball wide and gaining momentum," he said.
Pieterse said the team had focused on what their strengths were and would continue working on them as the season progressed.
"We could spend the whole week just focusing on defense in preparation for the Bulls game, but it is important that we focus on improving on areas where we lacked in our previous game and growing from that," he said.
Pieterse said the team had also spent some time on team building during the week.
"There is a great spirit among the players at the moment and it is important that we keep that going, as it is going to be a tough season for us," he said.
The Bulls will feature three former Kings players as Lizo Gqobaka, Edgar Marutlulle and Jacobie Adriaanse were all named in the match day 22.
The Bulls have won the last three encounters. In 2014 they had a narrow five point win, 30 - 25 at Loftus, followed by a 28 - 13 win in Port Elizabeth in their return match. Last year's match at Loftus ended 48 - 27 to the Bulls.
Kick-off for Friday night's game is at 19:20.
EP Kings:
15 Johan Tromp 14 Siviwe Soyizwapi 13 Burton Klaasen 12 Waylon Murray 11 Sampie Mastriet 10 Kobus Marais 9 Ricky Schroeder (capt) 8 Christiaan de Bruin 7 Sebastian Ferreira 6 Vince Jobo 5 David Antonites 4 Tazz Fuzani 3 Vukile Sofisa 2 Mike Willemse (vc) 1 Justin Forwood
Reserves:
16 Martin Bezuidenhout 17 Barend Potgieter 18 Ettienne Oosthuizen 19 Luke van der Smit 20 Jacques Fick 21 Minenhle Mthethwa 22 Lungelo Goza
Blue Bulls:
15 Duncan Matthews 14 Jamba Ulengo 13 Burger Odendaal 12 Dan Kriel 11 Bjorn Basson 10 Tian Schoeman 9 Piet van Zyl 8 Arno Botha (capt) 7 Jannes Kirsten 6 Ruan Steenkamp 5 Marvin Orie 4 RG Snyman 3 Entienne Swanepoel 2 Jaco Visagie 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes:
16 Edgar Marutlulle 17 Pierre Schoeman 18 Jacobie Adriaanse 19 Irne Herbst 20 Hanro Liebenberg 21 Andre Warner 22 Joshua Stander
Pieterse also made four changes to his starting line up, including two positional changes, with Siviwe Shakes Soyizwapi moving from fullback to right wing to replace Alcino Isaacs and Johan Tromp moving to fullback from outside centre.
Pieterse has also called up Burton Klaasen from the bench, to fill outside centre, while John Forwood also moves off the bench to replace Ferreira at prop.
Four new players join the bench, including Barend Potgieter, Ettienne Oosthuizen, Luke van der Smit and Minenhle Mthethwa.
Pieterse said he was expecting a tough game against the Bulls at Loftus.
"We can expect a very physical confrontation up front, with the backline looking at spreading the ball wide and gaining momentum," he said.
Pieterse said the team had focused on what their strengths were and would continue working on them as the season progressed.
"We could spend the whole week just focusing on defense in preparation for the Bulls game, but it is important that we focus on improving on areas where we lacked in our previous game and growing from that," he said.
Pieterse said the team had also spent some time on team building during the week.
"There is a great spirit among the players at the moment and it is important that we keep that going, as it is going to be a tough season for us," he said.
The Bulls will feature three former Kings players as Lizo Gqobaka, Edgar Marutlulle and Jacobie Adriaanse were all named in the match day 22.
The Bulls have won the last three encounters. In 2014 they had a narrow five point win, 30 - 25 at Loftus, followed by a 28 - 13 win in Port Elizabeth in their return match. Last year's match at Loftus ended 48 - 27 to the Bulls.
Kick-off for Friday night's game is at 19:20.
EP Kings:
15 Johan Tromp 14 Siviwe Soyizwapi 13 Burton Klaasen 12 Waylon Murray 11 Sampie Mastriet 10 Kobus Marais 9 Ricky Schroeder (capt) 8 Christiaan de Bruin 7 Sebastian Ferreira 6 Vince Jobo 5 David Antonites 4 Tazz Fuzani 3 Vukile Sofisa 2 Mike Willemse (vc) 1 Justin Forwood
Reserves:
16 Martin Bezuidenhout 17 Barend Potgieter 18 Ettienne Oosthuizen 19 Luke van der Smit 20 Jacques Fick 21 Minenhle Mthethwa 22 Lungelo Goza
Blue Bulls:
15 Duncan Matthews 14 Jamba Ulengo 13 Burger Odendaal 12 Dan Kriel 11 Bjorn Basson 10 Tian Schoeman 9 Piet van Zyl 8 Arno Botha (capt) 7 Jannes Kirsten 6 Ruan Steenkamp 5 Marvin Orie 4 RG Snyman 3 Entienne Swanepoel 2 Jaco Visagie 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes:
16 Edgar Marutlulle 17 Pierre Schoeman 18 Jacobie Adriaanse 19 Irne Herbst 20 Hanro Liebenberg 21 Andre Warner 22 Joshua Stander
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