The Emirates Lions return to Emirates Airline Park this Saturday for their Round 14 Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter against the Cell C Sharks. Back home from a challenging four-week European tour, the team from Doornfontein will target Saturday’s outing against the Sharks as an opportunity to collect points towards their journey towards a top 8 finish.
The halfback combination of Morne van den Berg and Gianni Lombard will look to spearhead the Lions’ attack on a familiar surface, with speedster Rabz Maxwane on hand to finish opportunities on the wing. The winger returns to the right wing after missing out on his recent tour due to injury.
Elsewhere, Emmanuel Tshituka faces his brother Vincent, a former Lions man, now in the black and white of the Sharks, in what is poised to be an exciting battle for the Congolese brothers.
Ruan Delport has been named on the bench for a possible debut, with Springbok Ruan Dreyer providing cover amongst the front row.
Emirates Lions: 15. Quan Horn, 14. Rabz Maxwane, 13. Manual Rass, 12. Marius Louw (c), 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Gianni Lombard, 9. Morne vd Berg, 8. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Ruan Venter, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Ruben Schoeman, 4. Willem Alberts, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. PJ Botha, 1. JP Smith. Replacements: 16. Michael van Vuuren, 17. Morgan Naude, 18. Ruan Dreyer, 19. Ruan Delport, 20. Sibusiso Sangweni, 21. Ruhan Straeuli, 22. Sanele Nohamba, 23. Rynhardt Jonker.
