Roar Guru
The Southern Kings, who have been in scintillating form playing an attractive brand of rugby, will be out to make a statement against a strong Sharks side that is picking up its form. Join us at The Roar for live scores and a blog at 1:15am AEST.
The Kings’ key goal will be consistency. They will be out to better previous performances that earned them big victories. They face a tough Durban outfit that is also picking up form of late.
Lionel Cronje, who has played for every top South African franchise at some level, will remember how the Sharks released him in 2015 after joining in 2014.
Having moved around throughout his career, he seems to have found his home at the Kings, particularly being a player who was schooled at Queens College in the Eastern Cape.
The experienced Schalk van der Merwe will start at loosehead prop for Justin Ferwood who suffered a knee injury.
On the bench sees Chris Heiberg comes in as prop cover, while Lubabalo “Giant” Mtyanda will be looking to make his Super Rugby debut in the second-row.
The Sharks are well aware that they will have to minimise on the errors, especially when they are facing a side that feeds off scrappy play and are good on the counter.
They have clearly shown the Kings some respect by fielding their strongest match twenty-three, and making their intentions clear that they want to come away with a victory.
The men from Durban will be without the in-form youngster, Curwin Bosch, who has joined the Baby Boks ahead of the World Rugby U20 Championship taking place in Georgia.
They do, however, welcome back Patrick Lambie in the starting XV since round three and will also be taking the captaincy role from Philip van der Walt.
Beast Mtawarira and Coenie Oosthuizen return in the starting front row after coming off the bench against the Western Force.
Another notable change is Garth April who returns to the match twenty-three.
The Sharks have openly made their intentions known by looking dominate in the forward pack, boasting a powerful starting eight.
Prediction
The Sharks have won all their previous encounters against the Kings by big margins. The Kings have never beaten a South African side in their Super Rugby, and will be in search for their first back-to-back wins at home.
The Kings seem to be slight favourites going into this game after displaying fine form in the last few games, and with a home advantage the men from PE should edge out the Sharks by four points.