The Kings team is a mix of experienced players, like Watson, Andries Strauss, Steven Sykes and Bandise Maku, with a number of promising youngsters also included in the starting XV, with Sergeal Petersen probably the pick of the young guns - he was in the SA Schools team last year and was also named the Coca-Cola Craven Week Player of the Tournament.

Demetri Catrakilis, who kicked DHL Western Province to the Absa Currie Cup title last year, will start at flyhalf, next to Strauss, who played one midweek match for the Springboks and has appeared in 40 Vodacom Super Rugby matches for The Sharks and Toyota Cheetahs before moving to Port Elizabeth at the end of 2012.

Seven players in the Kings' starting team will be making their Vodacom Super Rugby debut this weekend - SP Marais, Marcello Sampson, Petersen, Catrakilis, Shaun Venter, Wimpie van der Walt and Cornell du Preez.

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