The return of captain Michael Willemse at hooker was the most noteworthy change made to the Kings' side to face the Cheetahs on Saturday.
Now fully recovered from a long-term groin injury, Willemse replaces Stephan Coetzee and also reclaims the captain’s armband from Schalk Ferreira who deputised ably during his absence. In the only other change amongst the forwards Andisa Ntsila returns on the flank in place of Eital Bredenkamp who moves to the bench.
The backline shows a number of changes to the one that did duty against the same opponents during the home fixture in Nelson Mandela Bay last weekend.
Injury to Oliver Zono means that Martin Du Toit moves from centre to fly-half for the match in Bloemfontein while Luzuko Vulindlu takes over from Du Toit in the number 12 jersey. There’s a change at number 13 centre as well with Harlon Klaasen getting his first start of the season and Berton Klaasen moving to the bench.
In another change Yaw Penxe switches from full-back to left wing in place of Anthony Volmink. Volmink reported a tight hamstring after last weekend’s game and also missed a few days training due to illness this week.
“His absence is largely precautionary,” said Davids.
The coach also announced that Ntabeni Dukisa would fill the full-back position vacated by Penxe.
“Ntabeni offers us an option as a placekicker and has made good use of the opportunities he’s been given so far this season – he deserves a start,” said the coach.
He added that he had impressed on his team the need to learn from the lessons of their 45-21 defeat of last weekend.
“We played well at times, particularly in the second half, but poor execution at critical times cost us and they were quick to capitalise. When you make errors against a quality side at this level they punish you,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cheetahs head coach Rory Duncan has named Oupa Mohoje as captain after Torsten van Jaarsveld was ruled out with a minor injury, Jacques du Toit takes the latter's place at hooker.
Elsewhere, there is a start in the back-row for Henco Venter, who comes in for Paul Schoeman.
The Cheetahs, who remain without Francois Venter in midfield, are currently third in their PRO14 conference.
The teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Craig Barry, 13 Nico Lee, 12 Niel Marais, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Oupa Mohoje (c), 6 Henco Venter, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Clinton Swart, 23 AJ Coertzen
Kings: 15 Ntabeni Dukisa, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Bobby De Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Dayan Van der Westhuizen, 19 Lindokuhle Welemu, 20 Eital Bredenkamp, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Berton Klaasen
Date: Saturday, January 20
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 17:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: AJ Venter (South Africa), Archie Sehlako (South Africa)
Television match official: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
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