'Ever-improving' Kings up for Lions

Port Elizabeth  - The Kings may have lost in Durban last weekend, but that 19-17 scoreline against the Sharks have given them a new-found belief that they can take on South Africa's heavyweights in Super Rugby this year. 

That theory will be seriously tested on Saturday when they host the Lions at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. 

The Kings do have a win this season - against the Sunwolves - and they feel like they are improving all the time. 

"We're slowly but surely winning over our community and the PE crowd so hopefully we can have some more people for this game," flyhalf and captain for this weekend Lionel Cronje said on Thursday.

"We can just go from strength to strength. We're definitely looking to improve ... we've improved week in and week out. We're taking a lot of confidence and belief into this game.

"We want to develop a winning culture this game."

Coach Deon Davids, though, has warned that last weekend's showing against the Sharks will not count for much against the Lions.

"The Lions have got an overall very good game. I've got a lot of respect for them as a team," said Davids.

"We understand that we can't dwell too much on our performance of last week. It's a completely new challenge and we must just build from the positives of last week and try to improve as quickly as possible.

"We're excited. We're looking forward to the game and the challenge. This will be an excellent indicator for us in terms of where we are and where we still need to go."

The match kicks off at 15:05.

Teams:

Kings

15. Malcolm Jaer, 14. Makazole Mapimpi, 13. Berton Klaasen, 12. Waylon Murray, 11. Alshaun Bock, 10. Lionel Cronje (captain), 9. Louis Schreuder, 8. Ruaan Lerm, 7. Andisa Ntsila, 6. Chris Cloete, 5. Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4. Irne Herbst, 3. Ross Geldenhuys, 2. Kurt Haupt, 1. Schalk van der Merwe

Substitutes: 16. Michael Willemse, 17. Chris Heiberg, 18. Justin Forwood, 19. Tyler Paul, 20. Stefan Willemse, 21. Johan Steyn, 22. Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 23. Luzuko Vulindlu

Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Ruan Ackermann, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Sti Sitole, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Jacques Nel, 23 Sylvian Mahuza