There was a blow for the Isuzu Southern Kings ahead of their Guinness PRO14 clash against Zebre in Italy on Friday night when experienced scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius had to pull out of the 27-man tour party with a foot injury.
The 34-year-old signed for the Kings after a three-year stint for the Dragons and his experience will be missed on a tour that also includes a game against his former side in Wales.
There are also injury problems at prop with Rossouw de Klerk, Martin Dreyer and Pieter Scholtz sidelined.
This has resulted in a call-up for the highly rated Xandre Vos, who shone for the EP Elephants during the SuperSport Rugby Challenge competition.
“Xandre has trained with us before and now he has been contracted,” Kings head coach Deon Davids said.
“We know what Xandre can do and he will be helped by experienced campaigners like Schalk Ferreira and Justin Forwood.
“Sarel injured his foot in training. We are hoping Sarel and Rossouw will be fit for our first home game against Ulster.”
Davids said new backline players Bjorn Basson and Ulrich Beyers had fitted in well at the Kings since their arrival.
“They are both experienced players and know what it is all about,” he said.
“Everyone will also get a good chance to work together on our tour of Europe.
“Our strength is ball in hand and playing from counterattack.
“In the preseason we have worked on a lot of fundamentals, like our ability to keep continuity and also to get over the advantage line.
“This season we want to stop opponents on the advantage line.
“We want to win those advantage line battles so we can create opportunities for our exciting outside backs. That will be a big focus.”
The Kings had been scheduled to play Zebre on Saturday, but the game was brought forward because of a clash with soccer team Juventus in Parma.
“There is never a dull moment and there are always some surprises at the Southern Kings,” Davids said.
“We will play on Friday night and, in terms of our travelling, it gives us a good time to recover before our next game against the Dragons in Wales.
“We have put in a lot of work for this first game and we are excited to see the guys get going and express themselves. We have got a theme to strive for excellence this season.
“This two-game tour will allow us to put the building blocks in place.
“It is about putting our cornerstones in place and building for the rest of the campaign.”