Allan Solomons discusses changes to the Southern Kings Super Rugby Team
The Southern Kings announced their team against Brumbies today, with a number of changes as team rotations come into effect.
Most notable changes are:
- Waylon Murray starts at 13, with Ronnie Cooke moving to 11. Marcello Sampson returns from injury (bruised heel) on the bench.
- Nicolas Vergallo starts at 9, with Shaun Venter (bruised ankle against Hurricanes) on the bench
- Hannes Franklin starts at 2 with Bandise Maku on bench
- Grant Kemp starts at 3 with Kevin Buys on the bench
- Rynier Bernardo starts at 5 with David Bulbring on the bench
- Cornell du Preez returns from injury (tight hamstring) and starts at 8, with Jacques Engelbrecht on the bench.
Southern Kings Director of Rugby, Alan Solomons said the the changes were a combination of player injuries, as well as rotating the players due to the intensity of the competition to date.
Most notable on the back line was the move of Ronnie Cooke to left wing, with Waylon Murray starting at 13.
“Waylon has come back from a long injury and hadn’t played for a year. We’ve built him up to play, giving him 30 minutes against Border in the Vodacom Cup, 30 minutes against the Crusaders and 55 minutes against the Hurricanes, and felt that the time was right to let him start,” said Solomons.
“Ronnie Cooke has played exceptionally well for us, he has been one of the leading lights in our team,” he said.
“He’s played a lot of his rugby when he was overseas in top 14 at left wing, so he moves into that position,” he said.
Solomons said Shaun Venter had been moved onto the bench for the game, with Nicolas Vergallo given an opportunity to start at 9. He said that, while the scan had been clear on Venter’s ankle, there were concerns over the fact that he had not been able to practice with the team during the week.
“Shaun’s ankle is a concern, as he will not be able to train until the Captains run and the decision to place him on the bench is a dual thing.”
“For one, with Shaun being unable to practice all week, we thought that it was better to let Nicolas Vergallo play, and two, it gives Nicolas a chance to start. He has come off the bench for a number of games and I think it will be positive for him to get the opportunity,” he said.
Looking at the Forwards, Solomons said a number of rotations had come into effect.
“In the forwards we thought that the time had come to give Grant Kemp an opportunity to start. Kevin Buys moves to the bench as he has the ability to cover both tighthead and loosehead,” he said.
“At hooker, Bandise Maku has played every game as a starter. We felt we would like to give Hannes Franklin a start in the game and do a rotation there.”
Commenting on Daniel Adongo’s absence from the list, Solomons said: “Daniel had an opportunity to start against the Crusaders; he came off the bench against the Hurricanes as a loose forward, with Steven Sykes being out, but with Steven back he takes his position at lock and as vice captain.”
Solomons said Rynier Bernardo had also been selected to start, with David Bulbring taking the bench.
“I think this is a great opportunity for Rynier. He has come off the bench the last two matches, and this is a great opportunity to see how it goes starting as a Lock.”
“If we go onto the loose forwards, Cornell has had a week’s rest and his hamstring is fine, so he comes on at eight and Wimpie van der Walt stays at open side, giving Jacques Engelbrecht a break, taking the bench.”
Solomons said the draws in the competition had proven a tough challenge for the Southern Kings in their debut season.
“This competition is very tough. We’re playing extremely strong opposition. If you look at our games so far, after the Western Force we’ve played the Sharks who were runners up, then the Chiefs who won the competition last year,” he said.
“Our tour started with the Crusaders, and we’ve just seen what the Crusaders can do with four top players out –remember when we played them, they had Carter, Franks and Reed – and they still went on to beat the Stormers.”
“We then hit the Hurricanes, who are a very fine side with six or seven All Blacks, and we’re now going up against the Brumbies who are topping the Australian conference,” he said.
Solomons said it was therefore crucial that they focused on the players wellbeing.
“It is important then that we keep our players fresh and that we use our rotation system effectively.”
Looking at the game ahead of them, Solomons said: “The Brumbies are a very good side – they are not topping this conference for nothing. They’re strong all round and they have very good players across the board.”
“We know it’s going to be a massive challenge for us, we would really like to lift the intensity of the game and the physicality of the game for this match. I think the key lessons for us are that we need to sharpen up on the physical aspects of the game, both defensively and in terms of our break down,” he said.
Commenting on the absence of Siviwe “Shakes” Soyizwapi from the team, Solomons said: “Shakes only arrived on Monday and was not able to train yesterday, due to the various protocols, and in as much as he had not been with the team for a bit and he has to get used to the systems, we did not consider him for this match.”
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