Lions head coach Ivan ‘Cash’ van Rooyen has included Springboks Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Morne van den Berg in his run-on XV for Round 1 of the EPCR Challenge Cup against Benetton on Saturday at 15:00 (SA Time).
The Johannesburg side is flying high after their win against the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria last week, a welcome confidence booster as they prepare to take on the Italians at Ellis Park.
Returning from international duty this week, and speaking to the media earlier this week, the Bok prop is eager to transfer the knowledge gained from his time with four-time world champions in recent weeks.
“Every time I come back from the Boks, I learn things I can bring here. We have to maintain that standard heading into this weekend,” he said
Reflecting on his side’s performance last week, Ntlabakanye lauded his teammates on their preparations during the international break and stressed the importance of a repeat effort.
“It was good to see the hard work pay off. To win at Loftus for the first time since 2023 was massive,” he said. “But we can’t be a one-performance team. We have to prove we can go back-to-back.”
Saturday’s line-up sees the return of Erich Cronje at outside centre alongside Bronson Mills. The only other change is on the bench with Richard Kriel as one of the impact players.
Lions: 1. SJ Kotze, 2. Franco Marais, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 4. Etienne Oosthuizen, 5. Reinhard Nothnagel, 6. Jarod Cairns, 7. Ruan Venter, 8. Francke Horn (c), 9. Morne van den Berg, 10. Chris Smith, 11. Eduan Keyter, 12. Bronson Mills, 13. Erich Cronje, 14. Kelly Mpeku, 15. Quan Horn. Replacements: 16. Morne Brandon, 17. Edward Davids, 18. RF Schoeman, 19. Darrien Landsberg, 20. Renzo du Plessis, 21. Nico Steyn, 22. Richard Kriel.
23. Gianni Lombard