Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The Southern Kings suffered a blow with the loss of fullback Malcolm Jaer ahead of their Super Rugby match against the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday (kick-off 07:05 SA time).
The 21-year-old Jaer was one of the star performers with a hat-trick of tries for the Kings last weekend as the side narrowly went down 46-41 to the Western Force in Perth in their first of three tour matches in Australia.
However, the elusive back sustained a knee injury in the build-up to the Kings’ second match Down Under which has brought as abrupt end to his tour, team doctor Konrad von Hagen confirmed on Thursday.
Jaer will be travelling back to South Africa where he will see a specialist in Port Elizabeth and undergo further scans to ascertain the nature of the knee injury.
Kings head coach Deon Davids expressed his disappointment with the loss of the fullback.
“Unfortunately we have also lost a star player from last week, Malcolm Jaer, with a knee injury. He will be returning to South Africa to be properly assessed,” Davids said.
The injury to Jaer has given an opportunity for another elusive fullback, Masixole Banda, to return to the starting XV after missing out on a spot in the team last weekend against the Force.
“We are lucky to have Masixole Banda in the squad, who can replace him (Jaer),” the head coach said. “He has been exposed to this level of rugby in the first few weeks of the competition. He is looking forward to regain that opportunity at No 15.”
Banda’s inclusion in the team is the only change Davids has made to the backline after last weekend’s thrilling performance.
In the forwards pack, Davids has made three rotational changes to the side that squared up against the Force in Perth.
In the front row, Chris Heiberg gets his first start of the season as he exchanges spots with Schalk van der Merwe at tighthead prop. In the second row, Mzwanele Zito will be getting a starting berth at No 4 with Irne Herbst going to the bench. Tyler Paul will also start in the No 7 jersey, replacing Andisa Ntsila who will be on the bench.
Justin Forwood, who was a late inclusion last weekend following the neck injury to Ross Geldenhuys, will again be afforded an opportunity to start while Geldenhuys continues to receive rest.
“At this stage of the tournament it becomes important that you manage the load of the players effectively,” Davids explained the changes.
“It’s been a tough week for us, with the players suffering from sore bodies, bumps and bruises as a result of the tough encounter against Western Force last week. Therefore, we need to rotate our players in certain positions, which is what we have done.”
The head coach admitted that his side was expecting another tough encounter against the Reds this weekend while also acknowledging the positive improvements he has witnessed in his own side this season.
“The Reds are a quality side with a lot of international players in their squad. It is going to be important for us to minimise our mistakes and use our opportunities much more effectively against them on Saturday,” he said.
“Last week there was much improvement in certain areas of our game. Unfortunately, close decisions and our inability to use our opportunities better cost us that game. We are a team that is still learning, eager to learn and we are very excited to get an opportunity to play a quality side like the Reds on Saturday here in Brisbane.”
Teams:
Reds
15 Karmichael Hunt, 14 Izaia Perese, 13 Samu Kerevi (captain), 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 James Tuttle, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 George Smith, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Lukhan Tui, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Alex Mafi, 1 Sef Fa’agase.
Substitutes: 16 Andrew Ready, 17 Kirwan Sanday, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Adam Korczyk, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Hamish Stewart, 23 Chris Kuridrani
Kings
15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Lionel Cronje (captain), 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Justin Forwood, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Chris Heiberg
Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Johan Steyn, 22 Wandile Mjekevu, 23 Pieter-Steyn de Wet
