Emirates Lions take on Irish team, Connacht at Emirates Airline Park in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Saturday at 16h05.
After a tough start, the Emirates Lions ended a four-game winning streak when they lost in Durban to the Sharks a fortnight ago, but they still are a different team to face in Johannesburg.
After wins over the likes of Munster and Edinburgh, the Lions will take a lot of confidence in against Connacht, who have already beaten the Bulls and Stormers at home earlier in the season and are now looking for a clean sweep against SA sides.
The Lions have won their last four matches in the championship at Emirates Airlines Park since the Stormers beat them there on 12 February and have faced Irish provinces on three previous occasions, losing on trips to Ulster and Leinster but
beating Munster in Johannesburg on 19 March.
Connacht’s two-game losing run in the United Rugby Championship ended with their 21-17 victory over Benetton in Treviso on 2 April.
Connacht has won two of their last three away games in the Championship and have won their last eight fixtures against South African opponents since losing to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in March 2018.
But they are coming off a big loss in the European Champions Cup against Leinster and will want to restore some pride after failing to topple their Irish rivals.
Emirates Lions inspirational captain Burger Odendaal will once again don the number 12 jersey. Burger comes back to lead a fairly settled match 23, who will look to add to their impressive home record against overseas opponents in the tournament.
Earlier this week, backline, attack and skills mentor, Ricardo Laubscher emphasized the need for his group of players to bounce back in what is his team’s penultimate home game in the competition.
“The big thing for us now is to bounce back and it all starts with Connacht on Saturday,” a determined Laubscher commented.
“Key for us at this stage of the competition is to do well in our upcoming two games at home before we play Dragons away in our final fixture next month.”
The former Springbok fullback believes Connacht will come to Emirates Airline Park aiming for a positive result as they look to build on their win record against South African opposition in the URC thus far.
“Connacht is a very good side, who play for each other and carry quite a bit of belief in how they do things,” he commented.
“We will need to find ways of breaking them down and one way we believe we can achieve that, is by playing to our strengths which we’ve executed quite well in previous weeks,” he concluded.
Carlu Sadie and Jaco Visagie are expected to offer experience and impact off the bench, with Andre Warner covering the halfback position.
There are seven changes to the Connacht lineup from last week’s side that faced Leinster, with Andy Friend’s squad aiming to make it nine consecutive wins against South African opposition in the PRO14 and URC.
Two of those changes are in the backs where Alex Wootton and Tom Daly come into the side. Daly starts at inside-centre with Bundee Aki moving to 13, while Alex Wootton forms an exciting back three on the wing alongside John Porch and Mack Hansen who moves to full-back.
Caolin Blade and captain Jack Carty are retained at 9 and 10 respectively.
In the front row, there are starts for props Denis Buckley and Jack Aungier alongside hooker Dave Heffernan, while there’s a new-look second row of Oisín Dowling and Niall Murray. The final change sees the return of Paul Boyle at number 8, while Cian Prendergast and Jarrad Butler are named on the flanks.
Commenting on the team announcement, Head Coach Andy Friend says:
“We’ve had a really good week so far in South Africa, and while the disappointment of last week still lingers, there’s still a great sense of optimism in the group that we can finish these last few games on a high.
Tomorrow’s game brings additional challenges like the altitude, and the results so far have shown how difficult it is for European teams to get a win down here. The Lions have a strong scrum and pacey wingers so it’s up to us to not give them any footholds in the game, and take our chances when we get them.”
Weather: 20° with 13km/h NW wind, partly cloudy with 63% humidity with almost no chance of rain.
Prediction: Emirates Lions by 5.
Teams:
Emirates Lions: 15. Quan Horn, 14. Rabz Maxwane, 13. Wandisile Simelane, 12. Burger Odendaal (capt.), 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 9. Morne van den Berg, 8. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Vincent Tshituka, 6. Francke Horn, 5. Reinhard Nothnagel, 4. Ruben Schoeman, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 2. PJ Botha, 1. Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16. Jaco Visagie, 17. JP Smith, 18. Carlu Sadie, 19. Ruan Venter, 20. Sibusiso Sangweni, 21. Andre Warner, 22. Manuel Rass, 23. Tiaan Swanepoel.
Connacht: 15. Mack Hansen, 14. John Porch, 13. Bundee Aki, 12. Tom Daly, 11. Alex Wootton, 10. Jack Carty, 9. Caolin Blade, 8. Paul Boyle, 7. Jarrad Butler, 6. Cian Prendergast, 5. Niall Murray, 4. Oisín Dowling, 3. Jack Aungier, 2. Dave Heffernan, 1. Denis Buckley. Replacements: 16. Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17. Jordan Duggan, 18. Greg McGrath, 19. Leva Fifita, 20. Conor Oliver, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Conor Fitzgerald, 23. Shayne Bolton.