Earlier in the week a couple of forwards were struggling with niggles, however, the only change is in the backline.

Shaun Venter comes in at scrumhalf in the place of Tian Meyer, and he will also lead the side.

On the bench, Jasper Wiese returns to replace the suspended Justin Basson, while Rudy Paige slots in as cover for Venter and Ernst Stapelberg replaces Dries Swanepoel. Swanepoel was a plate replacement ahead of last weeks’ 61-28 win over Zebre after Louis Fouché rolled his ankle in the pre-match warm-up.

The Cheetahs coach, Franco Smith, told OFM Sport that they expect nothing less than a stern test against the Kings.

“In this competition, there is no such things as a week team.

“There are teams that maybe have an off day here and there, but the more you place in this competition, the more you adapt to it.

“I agree 100% that they will be up for the fight and they are going to be difficult to beat.

“We realise that and we are going to be concentrating on what we need to do.

“We will definitely want to come here and get the next win.”

When these two teams previously met on 18 January in Port Elizabeth, the Cheetahs scored an 85th minute try to grind to a 24-17 win.

The Kings have never been able to beat the Cheetahs in both the Pro14 and in the Super Rugby.

Saturday’s South African derby in the Pro14 at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 16:00.

Toyota Cheetahs – 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter (captain), 8 Gerhard Oliver, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Abongile Nonkontwana , 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements – 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Niell Jordaan, 22 Rudy Paige, 23 Ernst Stapelberg.

Southern Kings - 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Meli Rokoua, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Ntabeni Dukisa, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 JC Astle (captain), 4 Dries Van Schalkwyk, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
 
Replacements - 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 De-Jay Terblanche, 19 Stephan Greeff, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Bader Pretorius, 23 Berton Klaasen.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport