Kings v Sharks Super Rugby Preview

The first South African derby match for the 2016 Super Rugby season is between the Southern Kings and the Sharks in Port Elizabeth.

2015 was an unhappy year for the Sharks as they finished in 11th place with just 7 wins from 16 matches. Ordinarily the Sharks are always in the playoffs or just missing out so to be well out of contention was exceptional for the Durban side.

Since then the Sharks have had a host of retirements and the Durban franchise has suffered from their injury curse again as captain Patrick Lambie has been ruled out for the opening months.

In the pre-season the Sharks beat Toulon and Toulouse and looked to be in good form especially the young Garth April who has been named on the bench.

The Southern Kings have had a difficult run up to their re-entry to Super Rugby. Financial troubles have seen the Union changes coaches and a host of players.

Whilst they knew almost two years ago that they would return to Super Rugby the events in the last four months have undermined their efforts and the team is expected to struggle while they recover from their off field issues.

In terms of rugby the Sharks have played the Southern Kings twice and won both matches. In 2013 when the Kings were in Super Rugby they played 16 matches and won three.

The Bookies have given the Kings a 13 point start for this Match – with an an offer of up to $200 in Bonus bets. The Sharks should have too much power for the Kings in this. The Sharks should win by 16.

This Match will be shown on TV in NZ, Aus, SA and in the UK on Sky Sports 2/HD.

Average score: Southern Kings 12 Sharks 40

Last two results
13 Jul 2013 Kings v Sharks 13-58 Durban
09 Mar 2013 Kings v Sharks 12-21 Port Elizabeth

Kings overall record against the Sharks
Played 2 , Wins 0 , Losses 2 , Draws 0

Match No.:8 Kings v Sharks
Date : Saturday 27 February 2016
Venue : Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick Off local: 15:00 local
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant Ref 1:Rodney Bonaparte
Assistant Ref 2:AJ Jacobs
TMO : Marius Jonker

Teams

Southern Kings

15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Luzuko Vulindlu, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Shane Gates (vc), 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Ntando Kebe, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 John Charles (JC) Astle, 4 Steven Sykes (c), 3 Tom Botha, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Schalk Ferreira.

Replacements : 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Louis Alberts, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 Cyril-John Velleman, 21 Leighton Eksteen, 22 Louis Fouché, 23 Charles Radebe.

Sharks

15. Willie le Roux , 14. Odwa Ndungane , 13. Paul Jordaan , 12. Andre Esterhuizen , 11. Lwazi Mvovo , 10. Joe Pietersen , 9. Cobus Reinach , 8. Daniel du Preez , 7. Jean-Luc du Preez , 6. Marcell Coetzee , 5. Hyron Andrews , 4. Etienne Oosthuizen , 3. Coenie Oosthuizen , 2. Franco Marais , 1. Tendai Mtawarira (C)

Replacements : 16. Kyle Cooper , 17. Juan Schoeman , 18. Lourens Adriaanse , 19. Dave McDuling , 20. Philip van der Walt , 21. Michael Claassens , 22. Garth April , 23. S’bura Sithole