The Sigma Lions travel to Nelspruit to face the Airlink Pumas for the return leg of their Carling Currie Cup encounter on Wednesday.
Head Coach Mziwakhe Nkosi named his match 23, which includes former Junior Springbok stars Tyler Bocks and James Mollentze, as well as the return from injury of exciting back Ngia Selengbe, who could make an appearance from the replacement’s bench.
Asenathi Ntlabakanye, fresh from Vodacom United Rugby Championship duty, assumes the captain’s armband to lead a pack which features powerhouse lock forward PJ Steenkamp. Sasko Ndlovu, also a national representative at junior level, gets his first start of the competition.
“We have a second bite at the cherry against the Airlink Pumas,” says Nkosi who admits that his team’s first outing against the side from Mbombela posed a bit of a challenge in week two of the competition.
“The biggest message to our guys in our preparations is that we need to match them physically from a set piece point of view as well as on go-forward ball.” advised Nkosi.
“We’re quite excited about the team we’ve selected. If you look at the makeup of the side, it’s guys who’ve put up their hands and are now being duly rewarded. The key thing now is to get a bit of synergy and play as a team.”
“It’s been a challenging season for us from a Carling Currie Cup perspective. Our depth has been tested week in and week out, but despite that, it’s afforded opportunities for some of our players from the Varsity Cup to put their hands up and stake their claim in senior rugby,” he concluded.
Kick-off is at 15:30.
Sigma Lions: 15. Vaughen Isaacs, 14. Boldwin Hansen, 13. James Mollentze, 12. Tyler Bocks, 11. Zeilinga Strydom, 10. Luke Rossouw (VC), 9. Jurich Claasens, 8. Jarod Cairns, 7. Lindo Ncusane, 6. Sasko Ndlovu, 5. Lunga Ncube/Cal Smid, 4. PJ Steenkamp, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. Jacques-Lois du Toit, 1. Kayden Kiewit. Replacements: 16. Dameon Venter, 17. Banele Mthenjane, 18. Chergin Fillies, 19. Connor van Buuren, 20. Cal Smid/MJ Pelser, 21. Ginter Smuts, 22. James Tedder, 23. Ngia Selengbe