Brumbies no tall order as Kings bring in ‘Giant’
A COLOSSAL 128kg lock, who goes by the imposing nickname of “Giant”, has been called up by the Southern Kings for their crunch Super Rugby clash against the Brumbies tomorrow.
A late injury to regular starter Wilhelm van der Sluys resulted in coach Deon Davids promoting former Newell High School pupil Lubabalo “Giant” Mtyanda to his starting lineup.
This is one of a number of changes that Davids has been forced to make because of injuries for the showdown at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Apart from Mtyanda replacing Van der Sluys (stomach muscle injury), the other new faces in the starting lineup are fullback Chrysander Botha and loose-forward Stefan Willemse.
Botha comes in for Masixole Banda (hamstring injury), while Willemse was promoted to replace Chris Cloete (concussion).
Known for his aggressive play the 1.99m tall Mtyanda will be key as the Kings bid to thwart a physical Brumbies side.
The Kings after impressive wins over the Waratahs, Melbourne Rebels and Sharks, will be bidding for a historic first fourth Super Rugby consecutive win.
There were 22 000 fans to watch the Kings play the Sharks last week when the home team scored a first win over a South African Super Rugby franchise
Asked if his team, might be a little flat after all the hysteria that accompanied their victory over the Sharks, Davids said: “No, I don’t think so. We had a good week. Unfortunately, we lost a bit of continuity with players out with injury.
“But I am happy for the guys who get a chance and I think they are quite eager to grab this opportuniity.
“Van der Sluys has been a key man for us in the lineouts and we have used Tyler Paul there before. Giant is an experienced guy and Irne Herbst is still there.
“I don’t think there will [be] too much disruption in that area and we are confident they can pull it off.”
The Brumbies have said they want to gain setpiece dominance and Davids is aware of the big challenge facing his men.
“The Kings proved last week against the Sharks if our mind-set and our focus is right we can compete in the scrums and we have good lineout forwards,” said Davids.
“We just have to bring the attitude with that and make sure that we compete with the Brumbies.”
The Brumbies will arrive in Port Elizabath short on confidence after failing to score a try in their past 210 minutes of Super Rugby action.
They have lost six games by seven points or less this season and are struggling to find a clinical edge to turn around their fortunes.
The Brumbies have won just three games this year, but still find themselves locked in a finals race after a disastrous Australian conference campaign.
“We need to capitalise on opportunities better, we’ve about that,” Brumbies Stephen Larkham said.
“It really is going to depend on who performs in these last stages of the competition.” The Kings team is: Chrysander Botha; Alshaun Bock, Berton Klaasen, Luzuko Vulindlu, Makazole Mapimpi; Lionel Cronje (capt), Louis Schreuder; Andisa Ntsila, Tyler Paul, Stefan Willemse, Lubabalo Mtyanda, Irne Herbst, Ross Geldenhuys, Martin Bezuidenhout, Schalk van der Merwe. Reserves: Kurt Haupt, Chris Heiberg, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Mzwanele Zito, Thembelani Bholi, Johan Steyn, Pieter-Steyn de Wet, Stokkies Hanekom. spoken coach