Nell takes over Kings reins

Editor

The Eastern Province Kings named Darron Nell as their third captain of the season for Saturday’s clash with the Sharks in Durban.

Nell stands in for fellow lock Steven Sykes, who took over when Luke Watson was ruled out of the rest of the season with concussion.

Sykes has been sidelined with a knee injury suffered against the Free State Cheetahs last weekend.

Nell leads a pack which, due to injuries, shows several changes from the eight who had the edge against the Cheetahs.

Both props Tom Botha (elbow) and Lizo Gqoboka (rib) have been ruled out and are replaced by CJ van der Linde and Charles Marais.

On the side of the scrum, Stefan Willemse replaces Shaun McDonald, while loose forwards Thembelani Bholi and Tim Agaba should add an exciting edge from the bench.

The other change to the backline sees Tobie Botes getting a start at scrum-half, with Kevin Luiters on the bench.

EP Kings: 15 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 14 Ronnie Cooke, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Ntabeni Dukisa, 10 Gary van Aswegen, 9 Tobie Botes, 8 Paul Schoeman, 7 Devin Oosthuizen, 6 Stefan Willemse, 5 Darron Nell (c), 4 Steven Cummins, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Charles Marais.
Replacements: 16 Albe de Swardt, 17 Charl du Plessis, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Thembelani Bholi, 20 Tim Agaba, 21 Kevin Luiters, 22 Scott van Breda.

Date: Saturday, 27 September
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 14.00 local (12.00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Crouse
Assistant referees: Stuart Berry, Eduan Nel