A first win on foreign soil will be the target of the Isuzu Southern Kings when they face Italian outfit Benetton Treviso in a PRO14 clash on Saturday.
Both teams are licking their wounds after defeats, and a hard-fought battle is on the cards at the Stadio di Monigo.
When the teams met at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in March, Bennetton edged the Kings 36-35 in a thriller.
In that game the Kings made a slow start and were 12-0 down after 10 minutes against the attacking Italians.
The Italian side are looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss to Edinburgh last time out, when Luca Sperandio's spectacular hat-trick was not enough to stop them falling to a one-point defeat.
The Italians have slipped to three straight losses in the PRO14, which is their worst run since last December.
Kings head coach Deon Davids has made three changes to his starting lineup for the Treviso clash.
While the backline remains unchanged from the one that faced Scarlets in Llanelli last week, the forward pack will see two injury-enforced changes and one rotational switch.
Loosehead prop Justin Forwood will get a start in the No 1 jersey following Schalk Ferreira’s departure from the tour after the experienced 34year-old sustained a fractured nose in last weekend’s clash.
Ferreira returned home to Port Elizabeth earlier in the week, with scrumhalf Rudi van Rooyen and flanker Henry “Bakkies” Brown, who had sustained ankle injuries.
Brown’s injury has opened up an opportunity for a first starting berth in more than two years for CJ Velleman, who had been on the bench for the Kings’ previous two matches.
Velleman made his PRO14 debut in the Kings’ 38-28 victory over Glasgow Warriors a fortnight ago after having nursed two serious knee injuries for the past two years.
In a rotational change in the second row, Schalk Oelofse also returns to the starting lineup, where he will replace Bobby de Wee and partner up with JC Astle at lock.
De Wee moves to the bench. “We may have been affected by injuries, but we also now have an opportunity to give some of our other players an opportunity to gain starting berths,” Davids said.
“This is a long season and it is important to have depth in our squad.
“I’m happy to see some of our guys getting opportunities to play . . . gaining the experience in such a competitive championship is important.” he said.