Kings change 4 for return clash with Cheetahs

Cape Town - Southern Kings coach Robbie Kempson has made four changes to the team to face the Cheetahs in a return PRO14 clash set for Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Loosehead prop Cameron Dawson will make his PRO14 debut after recovering from a foot injury he sustained in a pre-season warm-up match against Georgia in Tbilisi last August.

He replaces the experienced Schalk Ferreira in the starting line-up, with the veteran providing cover from the bench.

Lock JC Astle will also make a return to the team with a starting berth, replacing Aston Fortuin, who sustained an injury during training this week.

Scrumhalf Theo Maree, who is on loan from the Bulls, will also be in the starting line-up where he takes the place of last week’s captain, Stefan Ungerer, who sustained a quad injury last week.

Hooker Jacques du Toit will take over the captaincy reins.

The final change to the starting XV will see the versatile Andell Loubser donning the No 15 jersey where he replaces Masixole Banda.

The Kings bench has received a massive boost with the return of experienced duo Demetri Catrakilis and Howard Mnisi from injury. The pair are expected to bring calm and composure in the latter stages of the clash in Bloemfontein.

The match kicks off at 17:00.

Teams:

Cheetahs

15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Chris Massyn, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Charles Marais 

Substitutes: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi,  17 Boan Venter,  18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Aidon Davis, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 Chris Smit

Southern Kings

15 Andell Loubser, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 JT Jackson, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Bader Pretorius, 9  Theo Maree, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Ruaan Lerm, 5 Jerry Sexton, 4 JC Astle, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Jacques du Toit (captain), 1 Cameron Dawson.

Substitutes: 16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Ig Prinsloo, 19 Bobby de Wee, 20 Lusanda Badiyana, 21 Josh Allderman, 22 Demetri Catrakilis, 23 Howard Mnisi