EP Kings team named to play Free State in Bloemfontein
Eastern Province Kings coach Mzwandile Stick has named a new captain and vice-captain for the Vodacom Cup rugby match against Free State in Bloemfontein on Saturday (April 18). A raft of injuries has seen experienced centre Tim Whitehead being installed as captain, where he replaces Shane Gates, while hooker Edgar Marutlulle takes over as vice-captain from Tim Agaba. Agaba retains his place in the side but Stick said he felt Marutlulle’s experience and communication skills would be more beneficial to the team. Both Whitehead and Marutlulle, having recovered from injury, came off the bench during the match against Western Province and acquitted themselves well. While injuries played a big part in the selection of this week’s team – a total of five players from last week’s squad are unavailable – Stick said he was not concerned about any possible disruption to the team. “Selection has not been really that tough because we have a number of experienced players coming back from injury and this is an ideal time to get them back into the system,” Stick said. Explosive wing Luther Obi is also back from injury while on the other wing Siyanda Grey is suffering from a touch of flu and has been bracketed with Siviwe Soyizwapi for Saturday’s encounter. Flyhalf Gary van Aswegen is back to full fitness after suffering concussion against Border last month (March 27), while Tony Jantjes is also over his injury and takes his place on the bench. In a further change to the forwards, David Bulbring gets a start, with Cameron Lindsay dropping to the bench. Speaking of Whitehead’s elevation to the captaincy, Stick said: “Tim is a player with good communication skills – he knows how to communicate with other players and he is a strong character and comfortable with all the players. “The same applies to Edgar. We feel he will be able to communicate well with the ref and with the players.”
The EP Kings team is:
1. Lizo Gqoboka,
2. Edgar Marutlulle (vice-captain),
3. Simon Kerrod,
4. Tazz Fuzani,
5. David Bulbring,
6. Paul Schoeman,
7. Thembelani Bholi,
8. Tim Agaba,
9. Jaco Grobler,
10. Gary van Aswegen,
11. Luther Obi,
12. Tim Whitehead (captain),
13. Hansie Graaff,
14. Siyanda Grey/Siviwe Soyizwapi,
15. Scott van Breda
Replacements:
16. Mike van Vuuren,
17. Enoch Mnyaka/Vukile Sofisa,
18. Cameron Lindsay,
19. Stefan Willemse,
20. Dylon Frylinck,
21. Tony Jantjies,
22. Ronnie Cooke
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