Southern Kings flyer Sergeal Petersen returns to the starting XV after overcoming a groin strain that kept him out of his side’s loss to the Cheetahs this past weekend.
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The hero of the Friendly City will be a welcome sight for the fans at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium when the Kings take on the Waratahs on Saturday evening.
Another glaring omission is the Kings captain Luke Watson who, once again, plays from the bench.
The form of the Kings loose forwards must be a reason for the absence of Watson in the starting XV who should have fully recovered from the throat injury he received in the Kings opening win over the Force.
Petersen replaces Michael Killian change in the only change to the Kings’ match-day 22 and they will hope that they can gain a bit of the momentum that they brought back from their overseas tour.
Their record against the Australian franchises has been impeccable and if they manage a win against the Waratahs on Saturday they will remain unbeaten against Australian opposition.
Southern Kings: 15 George Whitehead, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Andries Strauss (captain), 11 Siyanda Grey, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Wimpie van der Walt, 6 Cornell du Preez, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Grant Kemp, 18 David Bulbring, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Waylon Murray, 22 Siviwe Soyizwapi.
Date: Saturday 4 May
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 17:05 SA Time (15:10 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Jason Jaftha (South Africa), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO: Johann Meuwessen (South Africa)