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Port Elizabeth - Fijian flyer Meli Rokoua will get a starting berth for the Southern Kings when they take on the Cheetahs in a PRO14 encounter in Bloemfontein on Saturday (16:00 kick-off).
Kings coach Deon Davids named his match-day 23 squad on Friday for the second of three South African derbies between the two teams.
Rokoua, who was instrumental in the Kings’ come-from-behind win over Edinburgh last week when he came on from the bench, will start alongside former Cheetahs player, Tertius Kruger, in the midfield. This will be the Kings’ only change to their backline this week.
Up front, Ruaan Lerm will make a return in the No 8 jersey in the place of Andisa Ntsila, who will be expected to make an impact from the bench this week.
Centre Berton Klaasen, who missed out on selection last week due to an eye injury, will be back in the team providing cover from the bench.
The Kings will also have a debutant on the bench in this derby. Pumas stalwart, De-Jay Terblanche, joined the Port Elizabeth-based side on a loan agreement this week.
The 33-year-old Knysna-born Terblanche was brought in to bolster the Kings front row which has Pieter Scholtz out on a three-match suspension while injuries to Justin Forwood, Rossouw de Klerk and most recently Lupumlo Mguca have left the side ailing in the prop department.
The Kings, who showed a great fighting spirit in their previous two matches, are eager to continue producing good performances and a positive result in the hope of turning around the 24-17 defeat to the Cheetahs a fortnight ago.
"We learnt a lot of lessons in that first match against the Cheetahs. Scrums are definitely an area that has been a priority for us," Davids indicated.
"We know what to expect from the Cheetahs. They have some smart coaches, so we know they will have one or two things up their sleeves. What is important for us is to improve on the fundamentals - particularly the scrums and lineouts."
After the injury-time defeat to the Cheetahs and last week’s impressive 25-21 win over Edinburgh, the Eastern Cape side has also been focusing on the positive elements they picked up from the recent outings.
"Reflecting on last weekend’s game, the boys put in a tremendous effort. For this week, we need to add to our execution. I felt we had some opportunities which we could have done better in," the head coach pointed out.
"We have shown that defensively and with ball in hand, we can match any team, but if we don’t get quality ball it becomes difficult - that for us is the priority. We can practise all the other stuff, but if the set pieces are not in good shape, then it will be an uphill battle."
Teams:
Cheetahs
15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabs Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter (captain), 8 Gerhard Olivier, 7 Junior Pokomela 6 Abongile Nonkontwana, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Niell Jordaan, 22 Rudy Paige, 23 Ernst Stapelberg
Southern Kings
15
Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Meli Rokoua 12 Tertius Kruger, 11
Bjorn Basson, 10 Ntabeni Dukisa, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7
Tienie Burger, 6 Cyril-John Velleman, 5 JC Astle (captain), 4 Andries
van Schalkwyk, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Substitutes:
16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 De-Jay Terblanche, 19
Stephan Greeff, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Bader
Pretorius, 23 Berton Klaasen
