Young guns look to make mark for Kings
Young guns Michael Botha and Bakkies Brown will be looking to take the Guinness PRO14 by storm when they make their debuts for the Isuzu Southern Kings against Italian outfit Zebre in Parma on Friday night.
The pair impressed playing for the EP Elephants in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge and will welcome this opportunity to shine on the international stage.
“We want to congratulate the players who will be making their debuts for the Kings,” head coach Deon Davids said.
“I want them to play to the best of their ability and they must embrace this opportunity and showcase their talent.
“It is also important that we broaden the base of experience in our squad.
“We believe these players have the potential to make the step up.”
Davids said his players were adapting well to the warm and humid conditions in Parma.
“We had a good session on Wednesday, and I was pleased with the intensity and enthusiasm the players brought to training,” he said.
“The Kings expect a fierce onslaught from Zebre, who will be playing in front of their passionate home crowd.
“We will go out there and be as competitive as we can be with a big focus on ourselves.”
Anxious to improve after their dismal showing last season, the Kings will face a stern test against the underrated Italians who bagged seven PRO14 wins during their last campaign.
When the teams met at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium last season, the Italians scored six tries on their way to a 43-17 win.
Kings skipper Michael Willemse said his team were looking forward to their first outing of the season.
“The guys have really bought into our strength and conditioning programme and we have pulled together as a group,” Willemse said.
“We are just excited to get out on the field. The coaches always want more time, but the players just want to get out there.”
Much of the Italians’ success was built around their coach Michael Bradley’s belief in not playing one dimensional rugby.
Zebre, who enjoyed one of their best seasons, have exciting talent in their ranks.
Tommaso Castello and his teammates are back from the two preseason friendlies against the French FC Grenoble Rugby and Benetton Rugby, which they lost.
The Italians return to PRO14 action after closing last season with consecutive wins against the Dragons, Ospreys and Benetton.
There are eight Italian Test players in the strong Zebre squad to face the Kings.
The teams:
Southern Kings:
(Nos 15 to 1): Michael Botha, Michael Makase, Harlon Klassen, Berton Klassen, Yaw Penxe, Masixole Banda, Rudi van Rooyen, Justin Forwood, Willemse Michael (captain), Luvuyo Pupuma, Schalk Oelofse, Bobby De Wee, Bakkies Brown, Martinus Burger, Ruaan Lerm. Replacements: (Nos 16 to 23): Alandre van Rooyen, Schalk Ferreira, Luphumlo Mguca, Andisa Ntsila, Godlen Masimla, Martin du Toit, Ulrich Beyers.
Zebre:
(Nos 15 to 1) Matteo Minozzi, Mattia Bellini, Giulio Bisegni, Tommaso Castello (captain), Giovanbattista Venditti, Carlo Canna, Marcello Violi, Renato Giammarioli, Johan Meyer, David Sisi, George Biagi, Leonard Krumov Dario Chistolini Oliviero Fabiani Andrea Lovotti. Replacements: Massimo Cecilian,i Daniele Rimpelli, Giosué Zilocchi, Apisai Tauyavuca, Jimmy Tuivaiti, Guglielmo Palazzani, Francois Brummer, Edoardo Padovani.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland).
The match will be shown live on SS1 at 20:30
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