Planet Rugby

Unchanged team for Kings

12th March 2013 14:07

Shaun Venter of the Southern Kings

Starting scrum-half: Shaun Venter

Aiming to create a sense of continuity, the Kings have named an unchanged line-up for their Super Rugby match against the Chiefs in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

Captain Luke Watson remains on the sidelines following a throat injury sustained in the opening game against the Western Force, while lock Darron Nell retains the captaincy.

Kings director of rugby Alan Solomons said on Tuesday that Watson would undergo further examinations this week.

"He is seeing a specialist tomorrow or Thursday and once we have feedback from that we will make a decision going forward," said Solomons.

Friday will be the Kings' third home game in a row, but they leave on Sunday for their overseas stint in the competition.

"At the start of the season, we said we wanted to get some consistency in selection, especially in the first three games, and the fact that we have been able to do that is a tribute to the players," said Solomons.

The Super Rugby rookies started on a high with a win over the Force, but bowed to the Sharks with a 21-12 defeat on Saturday.

The Kings' defence was outstanding against the Sharks, but coach Matt Sexton said a priority would be to achieve better ball retention.

"The Chiefs have good depth across the board so it will be another hard game," said Sexton.

"Defensively we did well against the Sharks, but did not hold on to the ball properly and made some silly errors.

"That is something we have worked on in training and we need to make sure the guys understand the importance of holding on to the ball."

Kings: 15 SP Marais, 14 Marcello Sampson, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Wimpie van der Walt, 6 Cornell du Preez, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Darron Nell (c), 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Jaco Engels, 18 David Bulbring, 19 Daniel Adongo, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Hadleigh Parkes.

Date: Friday, March 15
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha (South Africa), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO: Johann Meuwessen (South Africa)

Comments

daibok says...

The Kings have done well so far but I expect the wheels to come off with this game. Depite their loss last week, the Chiefs are the best all-round team I have seen so far this year. Defence is excellent and attack is sharp.

Posted 15:34 12th March 2013

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