Emirates Lions and Zebre will meet for the first time as they open the new United Rugby Championship campaign in Parma @ 18h35 on Friday, with both teams having a point to prove. Both teams did not have much success leading to this opening match of the URC and would like to start with a convincing win.
The Emirates Lions have registered just one win against Griquas, since losing to the British and Irish Lions in July 2021 and triumphed on their only previous visit to the northern hemisphere when they beat the Sunwolves in Tokyo five years ago. The Emirates Lions finished bottom of the Rainbow Cup SA and occupied the same place at the end of the 2021Currie Cup.
Head coach Ivan 'Cash' van Rooyen believes the travelling group has what it takes to negotiate the unfamiliar conditions the men in red and white will encounter over their4-week tour.
Commenting on the selections coach Ivan Van Rooyen said: "We're pretty excited about this group."
"As a coaching unit, we've been fortunate enough to have time to discuss and plan how we want to approach the URC. This was coupled with a few on-field sessions before settling on a final 33."
"We expect conditions to be challenging up north but at the same time looking forward to competing and establishing ourselves as the competition progresses," concluded the Emirates Lions mentor.
A welcome return to the side for lock Wilhelm van der Sluys after fully recovering from a shoulder injury. Also included in the touring party are new loan recruits Pieter Jansen van Vuren, Eddie Fouche, Matt More, Morgan Naude and Ginter Smuts. The loan players are set to return to their home unions after round 7 of the United Rugby Championship, early December 2021.
Springboks Ross Cronje (ankle surgery) and Willem Alberts (hamstring rehabilitation) were not considered for selection, so too talented playmaker Gianni Lombard (ankle injury). All three however form part of the greater URC squad and will be available for selection once fully recovered.
Zebre will be bidding to pick themselves up after a Rainbow Cup campaign in which they failed to win a single game - beaten twice by Italian rivals Benetton, as well as losing to Edinburgh, Cardiff and Munster.
The men from Parma have bolstered their squad with a few late additions in the form of Olympic sevens gold medallist Asaeli Tuivuaka, New Zealanders Liam Mitchell and Tim O'Malley and South African centre Erich Cronje and will be targeting a winning start in the competition's curtain-raiser at home to Emirates Lions.