Kings shuffle back three for Leinster clash
Amongst the backline a shuffle of the back three saw Michael Makase, who played on the left wing against Ospreys, move to his favoured position of right wing whilst Anthonie Volmink, who missed out against Ospreys, has been restored to left wing in the starting XV. Yaw Penxe, who was at right wing in the last game, now moves to fullback.
The forward pack remains largely intact except amongst the loose trio where Man-of-the-Match against Ospreys Andisa Ntsila switches from flank to No.8. Ntsila's spot on the side of the scrum goes to Eital Bredenkamp with Ruan Lerm moving to the bench.
Other changes amongst the replacements made to the team that did duty for the Kings in their last fixture see lock Welemu Lindokuhle and Juan-Phillip Smith called up while centre Jacques Nel – who just flew in to join the squad from South Africa this week – takes over from Harlon Klaasen who unfortunately had to return home after injury.
Both coach Davids and captain Michael Willemse said that despite the disappointment of two defeats on their mini-tour so far they were determined to finish the tour on a high note and assured fans that they would be giving everything they had against the powerful Leinster outfit.
"They are a very good team and we will need to be organised on defence against them. It's also important that we try and play the game in the right areas and clinical in using our opportunities when we get quality ball," said Davids.
Meanhwile, Dave Kearney starts at fullback for his 120th cap for Leinster with Barry Daly on the right wing and last week's Man of the Match James Lowe on the left wing.
Isa Nacewa captains the side from the centre on his 180th appearance in blue with the returning Garry Ringrose outside him in the No.13 jersey.
Ringrose last played for Leinster in January against Ulster before an ankle injury forced him off.
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Barry Daly, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Isa Nacewa (captain), 11 James Lowe, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Ed Byrne.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Adam Coyle, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Peadar Timmins, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Jordan Larmour.
Southern Kings: 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Tienie Burger, 6 Eital Bredenkamp, 5 Arthur de Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Lindokuhle Welemu, 20 Ruaan Lerm, 21 Juan-Philip Smith, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Jacques Nel.
Date: Friday, February 23
Venue: RDS Arena, Dublin
Kick-off: 19:35 (19.35 GMT; 21.35 SA Time
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (Wales), Ken Imbusch (Ireland)
TMO: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
