Emirates Lions Head Coach Ivan van Rooyen has named a 29-man touring squad for his team’s upcoming fixtures in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and EPCR Challenge Cup.
The Joburg team face Muster on Friday, 6 January in the VURC, followed by return legs against Stade Francais and Dragons RFC in consecutive weeks in the EPCR Challenge Cup competition. The 4-week tour wraps up with a clash against Irish outfit Connacht at the Sportsground in Galway on 28 January in the VURC
Head Coach Ivan van Rooyen said “There’s still a tremendous amount of belief within the squad in terms of where we are currently in the process. We know we need to be more consistent on attack and defence especially. We are under no illusion that it’s going be a tough tour.”
“We like touring, says van Rooyen. We spend a lot of time together in Johannesburg, but time together on tour is just different. Going away together for four weeks on tour is a great opportunity for us to pull together, get consistency in our preparations and roll with the punches,” he concluded.
Emirates Lions 29-man Touring Squad
Forwards: Ruan Smith, JP Smith, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Morgan Naude, PJ Botha, Michael van Vuuren, Rhynardt Reijnsburger, Willem Alberts, Emmanuel Tshituka, Emile van Heerden, Darrian Landsberg, Ruan Venter, Jarod Cairns, Sibusiso Sangweni, Jaco Kriel, Ruhan Straeuli, JC Pretorius.
Backs: Morne van den Berg, Andre Warner, Jordan Hendrikse, Gianni Lombard, Marius Louw, Manuel Rass, Henco van Wyk, Rhynhardt Jonker, Edwill van der Merwe, Stean Pienaar, Quan Horn, Andries Coetzee.
Players not considered due to injury:
Sti Sithole, Ruan Dreyer, Reinhard Nothnagel, Francke Horn, Sanele Nohamba and Rabz Maxwane.
