WALES hooker Elliot Dee will miss the Dragons' Guinness PRO14 clash with Southern Kings after failing to recover from an injury to his ribs.
The 25-year-old from Newbridge suffered the blow when helping to secure a Grand Slam with victory against Ireland.
Dee missed the loss to the Ospreys but was hoping to return against the Kings in Port Elizabeth on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).
However, the clash has come too soon and the Dragons have decided not to risk the World Cup hopeful with next Saturday's clash with the Cheetahs now his target.
Former Wales and Lions hooker Richard Hibbard has recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him off at half-time on his return to the Liberty Stadium.
He captains the side with head coach Ceri Jones naming an unchanged pack in a bid for a first PRO14 away win since Treviso in March, 2015, 42 games ago.
Former Springboks full-back Zane Kirchner starts in his homeland and is one of four changes in the backs.
Josh Lewis is preferred to Jason Tovey at fly-half while Jack Dixon and Adam Warren form a new midfield partnership.
Loosehead Ryan Bevington makes a welcome return on the bench after being sidelined since the December win against the Ospreys because of concussion.
The Dragons are bottom of Conference B, a point behind the Kings, and were hammered 45-13 in Port Elizabeth last year.
The Kings made just two changes to the team that lost 33-19 to Ulster in Belfast - and there is no place for former Dragons favourite Sarel Pretorius.
The scrum-half missed the trip to Ravenhill with a knee issue and is not in the 23.
Kings: M Banda, Y Penxe, H Klaason, T Kruger, B Basson, B Pretorius, S Ungerer, S Ferreira, M Willemse, D Terblanche, A van Schalkwyk, J Astle (captain), A Ntsila, M Burger, R Lerm. Replacements: A Van Rooyen, A Tshakweni, P Scholtz, S Greeff, S De Wit, R Van Rooyen, B Klaasen, U Beyers.
Dragons: Z Kirchner, J Rosser, A Warren, J Dixon, H Amos, J Lewis, R Williams, B Harris, R Hibbard (captain), L Brown, M Williams, M Screech, A Wainwright, T Basham, R Moriarty. Replacements: R Lawrence, R Bevington, L Fairbrother, H Taylor, L Greggains, T Knoyle, J Tovey, J Williams.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
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