The much vaunted Kings defence fell apart against the high riding Australian outfit and the Kings will once again be tested against the Highlanders, who will be out to salvage their season, following a win against the Sharks last weekend.
Kings try machine Seargel Peterson is out of action after being injured against the Waratahs, while Luke Watson makes it back into the Kings starting line up.
Watson had a much improved performance last week when he came off the bench and it will be vital for him to lead from the front this afternoon.
Cornell du Preez moves back to the number 8 position and Marcello Sampson comes into the team to replace the injured Peterson.
Demetri Catrakilis will be key to the Kings’ cause and will need to dictate where the match is played with the boot.
Teams:
Southern Kings: 15 George Whitehead, 14 Marcello Sampson, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Siyanda Grey, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Luke Watson (captain), 6 Wimpie van der Walt, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Grant Kemp, 18 Daniel Adongo, 19 Devin Oosthuizen, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Shane Gates, 22 SP Marais.
Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Tino Nemani, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 TJ Ioane, 7 John Hardie, 6 Jarrad Hoeata, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Chris King, 2 Andrew Hore (captain), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Liam Coltman, 17 Ma’afu Fia, 18 Mose Tuiali’i, 19 Joe Wheeler, 20 Fumiaka Tanaka, 21 Hayden Parker, 22 Jason Emery.
