Cape Town - Southern Kings head coach, Deon Davids, has made just three
changes to his starting lineup, including one rotational change, ahead of the
their final match of the 2016 Vodacom Super Rugby season, when they take on the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
Steven Sykes returns to captain the side, replacing Schalk Oelofse at left lock, while Dewald Human gets a starting birth at flyhalf for the first time.
Oelofse moves to the bench, but has a shoulder niggle so Davids has announced Sintu Manjezi as a possible alternate for him.
"I am still waiting for feedback from our physios regarding Schalk, but if he is not available it would be a straight swop with Sintu," he said.
Davids has also rotated Davis and Engelbrecht at eighthman, with Engelbrecht starting.
"We thought we would use this opportunity to see what Dewald Human can do at 10, we brought him down to see what he can do in the flyhalf position. He has been training in this position leading up to the game and we have liked what we have seen.
"We have previously had him on the bench as a replacement flyhalf, but have had to utilise him as fullback, due to injuries."
"Dewald has good vision, a good passing game as well as being a good kicker in both tactical kicking and kicking to poles, so we are really excited to see him playing there," said Davids.
Davids said the team had enjoyed the season and were looking forward to the last game.
"We are going to enjoy
ourselves and are looking forward to the challenge," he said.
Davids had been heartened by the performance of the Kings against the Lions last week, and the improvement of the players week on week, but would be looking for a full eighty minutes from his team this weekend.
"We knew from the start it was going to big season for us, especially due to the challenges of not having a proper pre-season to assist with conditioning," he said.
Davids said he had spoken to the team about remaining focused after the half-time break, and the expectations on the reserves to make an impact in the game.
Teams
Kings
15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Lukhanyo Am, 13 Stefan Watermeyer, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Wandile Mjekevu, 10 Dewald Human, 9 James Hall, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 JC Astle, 4 Steven Sykes (captain), 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Sti Sithole
Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Schalk Oelofse/Sintu Manjezi, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Kevin Luiters, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Jeremy Ward
Stormers
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Schalk Burger (captain), 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 JP Smith, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Scott van Breda