After coming up short last weekend, the Emirates Lions face a reinvigorated Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday at 19:15 (SA Time), after the Welsh club recorded their first win of the new season by 31-25 over Cardiff in round three.
The Welsh club are on a roll at home, having won their last five Vodacom URC encounters at Parc y Scarlets, although they have lost their last two fixtures against South African opponents.
The Emirates Lions are still looking for their first win away from home in the Vodacom URC since their trip to Treviso last March, while they have experienced how tricky playing in Llanelli can be, as their only previous defeat to a Welsh region was on their last visit to Parc y Scarlets, in October 2021.
The men from Johannesburg were forced to make two squad replacements, as JP Smith (prop) and Ruhan Straeuli (utility forward) were flown in to replace the injured Morgan Naude and Darrien Landsberg.
The Emirates Lions will on Saturday trial a new-look half-back combination. Lions' head coach Ivan van Rooyen, has tasked his new pairing of Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) and Sanele Nohamba (flyhalf) to rally the backline against a Welsh outfit fresh from a win against Cardiff last Saturday.
Corne Fourie returns to the starting XV in the place of the injured Morgan Naude while Ruan Delport will be on jumping duty alongside Ruben Schoeman. JP Smith and Jordan Hendrikse provide cover at loosehead prop and flyhalf respectively.
It’s by no means been a tough start to the season for the team from Johannesburg, but former Springbok and current Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys believes his side will rise to the occasion come Saturday evening.
“As a management group, we can’t really question the desperation the guys have shown in wanting to win, he says.
“Their work rate, intent and physical dominance are something they can be proud of. It’s for us now to sharpen up and get better clarity on what and when to execute at crucial times during the game, especially on tour against overseas opposition- you need to be on point in order to get the win even if it’s by the slightest of margins. One or two moments in a game can determine whether you win by seven points or lose by one.
“What I like about this team is that they have the ability to step up when the going gets tough, he adds.
Scarlets' head coach Dwayne Peel has made five personnel changes to the run-on team as the Scarlets look to build on last weekend’s bonus-point victory over Cardiff.
Wales caps Tom Rogers, Ryan Elias and Taine Plumtree return to the Scarlets starting XV while tight-head prop Harri O’Connor, who came off the bench against the Barbarians last weekend, is also recalled to the side, while scrum-half Kieran Hardy is named among the replacements.
Peel said: “It was important to win at home last weekend after a tough trip to South Africa. It is going to be another tough challenge for us, the Lions are a physical team who beat us in Johannesburg last year, it is important we put in another big performance and build some momentum. The boys have trained well this week and we’re looking forward to playing at home in front of our fans again.”
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Eddie James, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies (captain), 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Vaea Fifita, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias. Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Wyn Jones, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Ioan Nicholas.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tsituka, 6 Hanru Sirgel, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.
