There is a first time for everything, and the Isuzu Southern Kings are planning to make history against the Cardiff Blues in Wales on Saturday night.
The Kings have never won away from home in the Guinness PRO14 and that is a statistic that irks them.
This is the Kings’ last game of a difficult three-match tour that has seen them lose heavily to Munster and Leinster in their opening games.
Undeterred by those setbacks, Kings head coach Deon Davids is planning to end the tour on a high.
“We will make sure we are thoroughly prepared and we will go full-out for a result,” he said.
Bader Pretorius will be pulling the strings for the Kings at flyhalf and a big responsibility will rest on his young shoulders.
The 21-year-old has fitted in well at the Kings after a few setbacks early in his career.
Two years ago, Pretorius was one of a group of young players whose contracts were culled by the Golden Lions Rugby Union, where he had been plying his trade for the Gauteng side’s junior teams.
A further blow was his struggle with injuries, which included two serious knee injuries that sidelined him until he joined the Kings.
“There was always a little bit of doubt whether I would play professional rugby again after two knee injuries, but I always had hope that I would play in one form or another,” Pretorius confessed.
“I never really thought of quitting rugby. It has always been my dream to play.
“I’m very excited and honoured about this opportunity with the Kings,” he said.
“I was out injured the past year, and randomly received a text message from coach Robbi Kempson to come for a trial.
“Training went very well and I got picked for that weekend and it all went well.”
Loose forward Andisa Ntsila will start in the No 8 jersey for the Kings on Saturday night.
Following the concussion to Ruaan Lerm, the 25-year-old Ntsila will earn his eighth starting berth of the season.
Ntsila will partner with the hard-tackling duo of Henry “Bakkies” Brown and Martinus “Tienie” Burger in the back row.
Captain JC Astle, who was originally selected on the bench last week but came on early following Greeff’s concussion, will also return to lead the side alongside Dries van Schalkwyk in the second row.
Centre Tertius Kruger also makes a return to the starting XV, in the only backline change that sees Berton Klaasen starting on the bench this week. Kruger will form a familiar midfield pairing with Meli Rokoua.
“We unfortunately lost Ruaan Lerm this week as a result of a concussion, but we are fortunate to have a player of Andisa Ntsila’s calibre to call on as a replacement,” Davids said.
“We have had a tough two matches so far on the tour, and this week against a Cardiff Blues side that is on the back of a good win over Edinburgh will be an equally tough contest.
“They are a quality side, and are well coached. It is no fluke that they sit third on the Conference A log,” Davids said.
“We have worked very hard this week to counter whatever they have up their sleeve this weekend. We are hoping to end this tour on a positive note.”
The teams:
Southern Kings:
(Nos 1 to 8): Alulutho Tshakweni, Michael Willemse, De-Jay Terblanche, Dries van Schalkwyk, JC Astle (capt), Bakkies Brown, Tienie Burger, Andisa Ntsila. (Nos 9 to 15): Sarel Pretorius, Bader Pretorius, Bjorn Basson, Tertius Kruger, Meli Rokoua, Yaw Penxe, Ulrich Beyers. Replacements: Alandre van Rooyen, Schalk Ferreira, Lupumlo Mguca, Stephan Greeff, Stephan de Wit, Rudi van Rooyen, Berton Klaasen, Masixole Banda.
Cardiff Blues:
Aled Summerhill, Owen Lane, Harri Millard, Willis Halaholo, Jason Harries, Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams, Nick Williams (capt), Olly Robinson, Shane Lewis-Hughes, George Earle, Macauley Cook, Brad Thyer, Liam Belcher, Scott Andrews. Replacements: Ethan Lewis, Corey Domachowski, Keiron Assiratti, Rory Thornton, Seb Davies, Tomos Williams, Garyn Smith, Matthew Morgan. Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland).
The match will be shown live on SS1 at 9.35pm.