No more 'mercenaries' for Kings
There is no doubt the Cheetahs are outright favourites for their pre-season Super Rugby outing against the Southern Kings on Saturday.
In fact, it is not that far-fetched to suggest that only the margin of victory is in question when they go head-to-head in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
However, for caretaker coach Robbie Kempson not even the margin is an issue.
Kempson – filling the vacancy left by the departure of Alan Solomons to Edinburgh and Matt Sexton to New Zealand, while attempts to lure Gary Gold to PE remain in the infancy stage – told this website in an exclusive interview that he is more excited about the home grown talent they will be bringing through.
He made it clear he is happy to move on from their Super Rugby debut season in 2013, when they made extensive use of "mercenaries" to be competitive.
"It is more about giving the other [Super Rugby] teams the best opportunity to do their preparation for Super Rugby," the Kings mentor told this website, when asked about the goals for their games against the Cheetahs, Lions and Stormers the next few weeks.
"It is the strongest possible side we can put out at the moment, considering what we have at our disposal contractually," he said, adding that they are also looking to use the games to build towards their possible re-entry into the Currie Cup (Premier Division) later this yea, with an announcement expected on January 29.
Kempson said the goal is now to build the Kings from the bottom up.
"Obviously they had to bring in those mercenaries from the top down last year, but thankfully now only the solid individuals have remained behind as far as the experience is concerned," he told this website.
"Now basically the youngsters that have come through the academy are getting an opportunity to play in the big league.
"It is a massive step up for them, make no bones about that – from Under-21 B- Division to playing against quality Springboks in a Cheetahs side is going to be a big step for them."
Kempson feels the only way for these youngsters to learn is to play against the best.
"How else are they going to learn?
"This is a great opportunity for them to show what they can do."
The other big positive for Kempson, the manager of the Eastern Province Rugby Academy, is the number of youngsters he brought through that system who will now get their first taste of Super Rugby.
"I have worked with all of them through the academy," he told this website, adding: "I do know them as players and individuals.
"However, you never know what that young man is going to do when he steps into that big league – if you do play against world renowned internationals – particularly guys like Coenie [Oosthuizen], Adriaan [Strauss] and Trevor [Nyakane].
"A lot of these guys look up to those individuals.
"We will have to see how they handle the fact that they have to play against and compete with them at the same level."
Kempson is confident there will be few more Sergeal Petersens unearthed this year, after the former SA Schools star burst onto the scene for the Kings last year.
"Our fullback, Siviwe Soyizwapi, played a bit of Super Rugby last year," the Kings mentor said, adding: "I feel he will go a long way.
"Shane Gates has been with the Cheetahs [he played in the pre-season game last week], and has come back to play off the bench as well. He is certainly one to look at for the future.
"Rynier Bernardo has been with the Cheetahs [for pre-season training] as well.
"Right throughout our [Kings] team – there is also Claude Tshidibi and Sonwabo Majola, our little scrumhalf.
"Whether they are ready for this league is debatable, but why not give them a go.
"Hopefully there will be a few players that can be called up to the squad if we play in the Currie Cup [competition] later this year.
"I'm making no bones about the quality of the Cheetahs team, given that they are playing a full-strength side, and a few of our players might be in awe.
"[However,] they are being given the opportunity and if they come through it is going to be fantastic for us. If they don't, well a number of the guys are still Under-21 and we still have time to work on them.
"It is a win-win either way.
"We can see where they are at and then grow the pieces of their game where they are not [good] at."
Kempson made it clear he won't be looking at the scoreboard on Saturday.
"The result and the scoreline won't matter much to us or the Cheetahs," he said, adding: "As long as we are competitive and give them a decent enough game, so that it isn't a complete waste of time for their Super Rugby aspirations, then we will have done our job.
"It will be the same for our next two matches, against the Lions and Stormers, just be competitive and make sure we give them a decent enough game."
Teams:
Southern Kings: 15 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Dwayne Jenner, 11 Michael Killian, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Jaco Grobler, 8 Devin Oosthuizen, 7 Darron Nell (captain), 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Pieter Stemmet, 2 Dane van der Westhuyzen, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements – from: Albe de Swardt, Brenden Olivier, Vukile Sofisa, Stephan Zaayman, Stephan Greeff, Thembelani Bholi, Claude Tshidibi, Sonwabo Majola, Shane Gates, Ntabeni Dukisa, Brian Skosana.
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Pieter Labuschagné, 6 Jean Cook, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Nicolaas van Dyk, 19 Rynhard Landman, 20 Johannes Prinsloo, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Rayno Benjamin.
Date: Saturday, January 25
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Referee: Jason Jaftha
By Jan de Koning
