Kings v Chiefs preview

The Chiefs will continue their tour of South Africa as they take on the Kings in Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in PE on Friday, 15 March 2013.

A milestone for the Chiefs will see Liam Messam play his 100^th Super Rugby game. Messam has been in great form as of late, and it should be an occasion All Black loose forward wants to come smiling out of.

In terms of the team changes, coach Dave Rennie has made a few changes, with prop Toby Smith, lock Michael Fitzgerald, loose forward Tanerau Latimer and Andrew Horrell all make the starting line up.  Horrell was impressive when he came off the bench against the Stormers last week and should make a bigger impact in the starting line-up.

Former All Black and multiple Super Rugby champion Ross Filipo makes his Chiefs debut at number 8.

Young hooker Rhys Marshall also makes the starting XV following the injury to Mahonri Schwalger.

The Kings will field an unchanged side from the team that battled the Sharks in Round 4.

Despite not getting the win, the Kings showed that they possess great defensive abilities, preventing the in-form Sharks from scoring any tries.

The forwards were particularly impressive, and the likes of Wimpie van der Walt and Jacques Engelbrecht have proven that they can stand up to the best, and will have one of their toughest challenges taking on Messam, Latimer and Filipo.

The Kings will look to Demetri Catrakilis to once again get the team moving forward, and given the Chiefs loose running tactics, the Kings should look to the likes of Sergeal Petersen and Marcello Sampson to hit back with breaks of their own.

Rugby Informer prediction: the Kings have made many sceptics eat their words, and have shown that they have some impressive defensive qualities. That said, the Chiefs will be eager for another win, and given their form, should achieve it. Chiefs by 15.

Kick-off is on Friday, 15 March 2013, at 19:10 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in PE.

Southern Kings:

15 SP Marais, 14 Marcello Sampson, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Wimpie van der Walt, 6 Cornell du Preez, 5 Darron Nell (captain), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Jaco Engels, 18 David Bulbring, 19 Daniel Adongo, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Hadleigh Parkes.

Chiefs team:

15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Tim Nanai-Williams, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Ross Filipo, 7 Tanerau Latimer 6 Liam Messam, 5 Michael Fitzgerald, 4 Craig Clarke (captain), 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Augustine Pulu, 21 Charlie Ngatai, 22 Patrick Osborne.