Now for the charge of the Ferreira brigade

THE Southern Kings will have their fourth captain in as many matches when prop forward Schalk Ferreira leads the team out for their Super Rugby showdown against the Crusaders in Christchurch tomorrow (kick-off 8.35am).

After Luke Watson led the Kings out for their opening match against the Western Force, injuries resulted in Darron Nell taking charge for the Sharks game and Steven Sykes against the Chiefs.

With all three now sidelined the Kings have turned to the experienced Ferreira to lead the team against the seven-time champs, with Ronnie Cooke as vice-captain.

“Schalk Ferreira, who always gives everything in every game, will lead by example. Cooke has fitted in fantastically,” said Kings director of rugby Alan Solomons.

Tomorrow’s game will be a big test for the Kings both in terms of leadership and depth.

Solomons said they were also missing team leaders Nell and Watson, who stayed home due to injury, as well as SP Marais who started in all three home games at fullback.

“For the rest we tried to get consistency in our selection,” he said. “But what is nice is that there are opportunities for players.

“Rynier Bernado comes in on the bench with Steve being out. I think it’s a great opportunity. Here’s a guy from Framesby, out of the academy, playing Super Rugby. I’ve said it before – it’s the green shoots of what Robbie Kempson is doing at the academy and it’s fantastic,” said Solomons. “What’s also great to see is Waylon Murray, who had 30 minutes against Border in the EP Kings Vodacom Cup game last week. It’s fantastic having him.”

Solomons said the change of players would add its own set of challenges, with Devin Oosthuizen and Edgar Marutlulle both on the bench for tomorrow.

The game against the Crusaders was going to be tough, he added. “They’ve picked their strongest possible team and that’s a huge challenge, but they’ve shown us that respect.”

Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has made four changes to the team that played the Bulls last weekend.