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Cape Town - A largely new-look forward pack will front up for the Chiefs when they take on the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Head coach Dave Rennie has made numerous changes to the team that lost 36-32 to the Lions in Hamilton last Saturday.
The revamped front row sees Mitchell Graham, Nathan Harris and Siate Tokolahi pack down for their first starts of the season.
In the second row, Johan Bardoul partners with Michael Allardice. Bardoul replaces the injured Brodie Retallick who is sidelined for four-six weeks after sustaining broken ribs against the Lions last week. Taleni Seu, Sam Cane and Michael Leitch form the loose forward trio adding plenty of power and agility to the back of the scrum.
In the backline, Brad Weber gets his first start of the 2016 Super Rugby season at scrumhalf. Co-captain Aaron Cruden retains the No 10 jersey, with Charlie Ngatai and Seta Tamanivalu continuing their dominant partnership in the midfield for the third successive week.
Glen Fisiiahi impressed in his debut to earn his first start on the right wing, with James Lowe and Damian McKenzie rounding out the backline in jerseys 11 and 15 respectively.
The strong reserve bench packs a punch with Rhys Marshall, Pauliasi Manu and 2015 gold medal winning New Zealand Under-20 captain Atu Moli on hand as front row replacements.
They are joined on the bench by fellow forwards James Tucker and Maama Vaipulu.
Replacement scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow offers plenty of experience, with Anton Lienert-Brown and Sam McNicol ready to add impact to the backline off the bench.
Should Atu Moli and James Tucker take the field, they will be making their Super Rugby debuts, while Sam McNicol is in line to earn his first cap for the Chiefs.
Saturday’s clash at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is scheduled for 15:05.
Teams:
Southern Kings
15 Jurgen Visser 14 Luzuko Vulindlu 13 Stefan Watermeyer 12 Shane Gates 11 Malcolm Jaer 10 Louis Fouche 9 Ntando Kebe 8 Jacques Engelbrecht 7 Thembelani Bholi 6 Chris Cloete 5 JC Astle 4 Steven Sykes (captain) 3 Jacobie Adriaanse 2 Edgar Matutlule 1 Schalk Feirreira
Substitutes: 16 Sithembiso Sithole 17 Martin Bezuidenhout 18 Tom Botha 19 Schalk Oelofse 20 CJ Velleman 21 Kevin Luiters 22 Elgar Watts 23 Jaco van Tonder
Chiefs
15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Glen Fisiiahi, 13 Seta Tamanivalu, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 James Lowe, 10 Aaron Cruden (co-captain), 9 Brad Weber, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane (co-captain), 6 Taleni Seu, 5 Johan Bardoul, 4 Michael Allardice, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Mitchell Graham
Substitutes: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Atu Moli, 19 James Tucker, 20 Maama Vaipulu, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Sam McNicol
