The Emirates Lions take on Welsh side Cardiff Rugby in a crucial Round 16 match of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday at 18:15 (SA Time).
Fullback Quan Horn, who missed out against champions Munster in Round 15, makes a welcome return to the starting XV and with that, a 50th cap for his franchise. Popular front-rower Asenathi Ntlabakanye returns to the tighthead position, with Springbok Ruan Dreyer packing down at loosehead.
A new-look back row sees the injection of the powerful Ruan Venter in concert with JC Pretorius and Francke Horn. The explosive Emmanuel Tshituka will be tasked to provide impact from the bench.
The team’s forwards and lineout specialist Barend Pieterse believes consistency from his side over the next three games will enhance their play-off chances as the race to the top-eight intensifies.
“We need to get as many points out of this week’s game, and then again next week. But the top-eight dream is still alive for us, and that’s genuinely something that we talk about and train for every day,” he told reporters.
Commenting on the opposition ahead of Saturday, the former Lions lock expects them to have studied recent performances and draw tactics to employ against Marius Louw’s men.
“They are a good team and they’ll get confidence from that game against Munster we played here [two weeks ago], and take stuff out of that.
“But from our side, we have to be better in our set piece, particularly the execution. We have to be in their face, we can’t let them run on to us, and on defence, we have to get off the line.
“We have to give our backs solid enough ball from our scrums and lineouts and when we’re close to our tryline, we have to come away with points.
Emirates Lions:
- Ruan Dreyer
- PJ Botha
- Asenathi Ntlabakanye
- Willem Alberts
- Ruan Delport
- JC Pretorius
- Ruan Venter
- Francke Horn
- Morne van den Berg
- Sanele Nohamba
- Edwill van der Merwe
- Marius Louw (c)
- Erich Cronje
- Richard Kriel
- Quan Horn
Replacements
- Jaco Visagie
- JP Smith
- Conrad van Vuren
- Reinhard Nothnagel
- Emmanuel Tshituka
- Hanru Sirgel
- Jordan Hendrikse
- Gianni Lombard