The pressure on the local Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams will reach new heights this weekend as they battle it out for the SA Shield. The Fidelity SecureDrive Lions will host the DHL Stormers in Johannesburg at 14:30 (SA Time).
The match between the Lions and DHL Stormers at Ellis Park is expected to be a thriller as the hosts try to continue capitalising on their six home games in a row to improve their log position and remain in the top half of the standings.
However, the Capetonians will have all the motivation they need to bounce back from two successive defeats against the Hollywoodbets Sharks, which saw them drop from first to third place on the table.
While the Lions have only suffered one home defeat in the competition so far this season, they will be wary of the fact that the DHL Stormers have a solid track record away from home, with their only defeat being against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban. They will also draw inspiration from the fact that they defeated the Lions 34-27 in Cape Town earlier in the competition.
The Lions have a better attack despite trailing the DHL Stormers by four log positions, with 301 points scored to the visitors’ 274, but the Johannesburgers will have to step up their defence significantly to register a victory after conceding 49 tries to the visitors’ 20 so far this season.
Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen has announced a strong lineup ahead of their tussle with the coastal side.
Junior Springbok Batho Hlekani enters the frame in the place of Springbok Ruan Venter, who misses out due to a head injury suffered against the Durbanites last weekend. The Graeme College old boy Hlekani features in a formidable back row consisting of skipper Francke Horn and last week’s debutant Siba Mahashe.
Stormers’ hooker JJ Kotzé will start in his 50th match alongside props Ntuthuko Mchunu and Sazi Sandi, with André-Hugo Venter, Vernon Matongo and Zachary Porthen on the replacements bench.
JD Schickerling takes over the captaincy and is joined in the second row by Adré Smith, while the loose trio of Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon and Evan Roos play their eighth match together as a starting combination.
Connor Evans, Marcel Theunissen and Hacjivah Dayimani are all set to make an impact in the second half.
There are two changes to the backline that did duty in the last Vodacom URC derby in Durban in late January, as Warrick Gelant is back at fullback and Stefan Ungerer starts at scrumhalf in place of Cobus Reinach, who is recovering from surgery. Imad Khan and Jurie Matthee are the two backline replacements.
Teams:
Fidelity SecureDrive Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Erich Cronjé.
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 JD Schickerling (captain), 4 Adré Smith, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 JJ Kotzé, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Marcel Theunissen, Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Imad Khan, 23 Jurie Matthee.