Jaguares first up for Southern Kings in 2017 Super Rugby

The Southern Kings will play host to the Jaguares in their 2017 Super Rugby season opener which will kick off at 17:15 on Saturday 25 February at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The Southern Kings will play host to the Jaguares in their 2017 Super Rugby season opener which will kick off at 17:15 on Saturday 25 February at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The Kings pulled out a seemingly unlikely victory this year when they played host to the Argentinian side as a late surge saw them come away with a 29-22 win, one of just two wins in their return to the competition and they will be hoping to repeat this feat ahead of what can only really be better season.

After this they will travel to Singapore to play against the Sunwolves who finished the 2016 season at the bottom of the log. The Kings will then return to South Africa to play the Stormers, Sharks and Lions before having a week off giving them a chance to prepare for their tour down under.

On tour they will play the Western Force, the Reds as well as the Waratahs in the first three weeks of April which looking at this year's performances by the Australian teams gives the Kings a good opportunity to come away with a shock result or two.

When they return they will face the Rebels at home as they begin a string of home games that sees them play only two more games away from home when the face the Lions and the Jaguares before concluding their group stages against the Cheetahs at home on 14 July.

Noticeably the Kings have been dealt a very good hand of fixtures in that they will not face any New Zealand sides who occupied four of the top seven spots on this year’s logs and so given the turmoil that the union is currently going through this is a golden opportunity for them to prove that they belong in the competition.

Southern Kings 2017 Super Rugby fixtures: