Cronje fit as Kings opt for consistency

Cape Town - Flyhalf Lionel Cronje is fit and will start for the Kings in their Super Rugby clash against the Sharks in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. 

There had been a concern over Cronje's availability for the match after he suffered a concussion in his side's 44-3 win over the Rebels two weekends ago. 

But, with a bye week this past weekend, Cronje has made a full recovery and he will look to be the spark the Eastern Cape-based side needs in their attempt to make it three wins in a row. 

The only change to the side that beat the Rebels is injury-enforced, and it sees Schalk van der Merwe start at loosehead prop in place of Justin Forwood. 

The Kings came extremely close to beating the Sharks in Durban back on March 18 when a late missed penalty from Cronje proved costly. In the end, the Kings went down 19-17 in that match. 

But they are a side full of confidence at the moment, and they will be backing themselves to pull of an upset on Saturday. 

Kick-off is at 17:15.

Teams:

Kings

15 Masixole Banda, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Lionel Cronje (captain), 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Schalk van der Merwe

Substitutes: 16 Kurt Haupt/Tango Balekile, 17 Chris Heiberg 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20 Stefaan Willemse, 21 Johan Steyn, 22 Nicolaas Hanekom, 23 Pieter-Steyn de Wet

Sharks