The Lions u/20 will host the Leopards u/20s at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday at 12:30 (SA Time) in Round 2 of the 2023 SA Rugby Cup.
The Lions u/20s had a great start to the season beating the Valke u/20 73-07 while the Leopards used their big pack of forwards to keep the Vodacom Blue Bulls u/20s from running away, losing by only 26-31.
Today will be an early opportunity for the Lions u/20s to test their forwards against a big and abrasive pack of forwards while the Leopards u/20s will look forward to using their dominance up front to give their backline players an opportunity to run with the ball on a dry pitch.
The Lions u/20s is currently leading the race to the finals scheduled for 06 April 2023 after they earned 5 log points against the Valke u/20s.
The coaches of the Lions u/20s made only one change to the squad who demolished the Valke u/20s 73-07 a week ago. Lock Tiaan Wessels makes his return in the place of Luan Taylor who drops to the bench.
The Leopards u/20 coaches made several changes to the team that narrowly lost to the Vodacom Blue Bulls.
Two changes were made at the back. Keagan Coerecius replaces Faf Osuala as fullback while JP Britz replaces Christiaan Gates as the flyhalf.
Gustav Du Bois, #8 was promoted from the bench and replaces Hanru Jansen who drops to the bench while Luke Bock replaces Kyle Valentine at the side of the scrum. JD van Zyl replaces Schalk van Schalkwyk at lock while the last change sees Divan Muller replacing Pierre de Villiers at the tight head.
Teams:
Lions u/20: 15. Janeil Losper, 14. Asemahle Nongogo, 13. Kelly Mpeku, 12. Bronson Mills, 11. Keagan Smith, 10. Sam Francis, 9. Layton Horn, 8. Thabang Mphafi, 7. Christopher Sjoblom, 6. Sibabalwe Mahashe, 5. Daniel Botha, 4. Tiann Wessels, 3. RF Schoeman, 2. Marno Grobbelaar, 1. S J Kotze (c). Replacements: 16. Riaan Swart, 17. JP Swanepoel, 18. Stian de Bruyn, 19. Lodewyk Prins, 20. Luan Taylor, 21. Liam Rowan, 22. Thurlon Williams, 23. Shah-Jehaan De Jongh.
Leopards u/20: 15. Keagan Coerecius, 14. Farai Sibanda, 13. Johan Leonard, 12. Stuff Heath, 11. Angelo Daniels, 10. JP Britz, 9. Johannes Fourie, 8. Gustav du Bois, 7. Luke Block, 6. Daniel Verster (c), 5. Zihan Bench, 4. JD van Zyl, 3. Divan Muller, 2. Abre Griesel, 1. Lalhuma Dyanti. Replacements: 16. JP Olivier, 17. Lachance Tchokonte-Nana, 18. Pierre de Villiers, 19. Schalk van Schalkwyk , 20. Hanru Jansen, 21. Zack Serfontein, 22. Reuben Noble, 23. Emile Geyser.
