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PREVIEW: Cheetahs not taking winless Kings lightly

The Cheetahs showed a lot of muscle in last weekend's game in Port Elizabeth scoring two tries in the final 10 minutes while down to 13 players. 

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The Kings, however, showed flashes of excellent play and were much more competitive than the final score of 21-45 suggested as the game played out in front of 6 711 – the highest crowd for a Southern Kings home game this season. 

After this fixture is completed then the Cheetahs and the Kings will be level on games played with the rest of the teams in the Pro14.

Much like last weekend, the mission remains the same for both teams. 

The Cheetahs are aiming to close the gap on second-placed Munster in Conference A – a bonus point win will put the men from the Free State within three points of the Irish province. 

For the Kings, they are still in search of their first win in Conference B. 

"The Kings are a team that always comes out firing." Cheetahs head coach Rory Duncan told rugby365.

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"They are a team that can surprise you, so we just want to make sure that our focus is right and we are in the right head space for these guys.

"I think it will be a nice game for the spectators to come and watch. 

"South African derbies are always well contested, so it is going to be a tough game this weekend and we are prepping extremely hard for the fixture."

Meanwhile, Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids said he had impressed on his team the need to learn from the lessons of their 21-45 defeat of last weekend. 

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"We played well at times, particularly in the second half, but poor execution at critical times cost us and they were quick to capitalise," said Davids.

"When you make errors against a quality side at this level they punish you," he said.

Teams: 

Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Craig Barry, 13 Nico Lee, 12 Niel Marais, 11 Makazola Mapimpi, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Teboho Mohoje (captain), 6 Henco Venter, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Jacques Du Toit, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.

Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Mthokozisi Mkhabela, 22 Clinton Swart, 23 Adriaan Coertzen.

 

Southern Kings: 15 Ntabeni Dukisa, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Bobby de Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Michael Willemse (captain), 1 Schalk Ferreira.   

Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Lindokuhle Welemu, 20 Eital Bredenkamp, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Berton Klaasen.

Date: Saturday, January 20

Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)

Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

Assistant referees: AJ Venter (South Africa), Archie Sehlako (South Africa)

TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)

@rugby365com

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