Nell, selected at lock in the place of David Bulbring, takes over the captaincy from the injured Luke Watson, who has been included on the bench alongside Bulbring.

Jacques "Vleis" Engelbrecht, who impressed when he replaced Watson in the Kings' opening win against the Force, will start at No 8.

The Kings' backline is unchanged, but Nicolas Vergallo has been included on the bench in the place of Johan Herbst, who was the replacement scrumhalf against the Force.

Southern Kings: SP Marais, Sergeal Petersen, Ronnie Cooke, Andries Strauss, Marcello Sampson, Demetri Catrakillis, Shaun Venter; Jacques Engelbrecht, Wimpie van der Walt, Cornell du Preez, Steve Sykes, Darron Nell (captain), Kevin Buys, Bandise Maku, Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: Edgar Marutlulle, Jaco Engels, David Bulbring, Luke Watson, Nicolas Vergallo, George Whitehead, Hadleigh Parkes.