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The New Nation Pumas will host the Lions in Mbombela tonight at 19h00, in the first match of the 2021 Carling Currie Cup. The Lions may have won the last two Carling Currie Cup catfights against the New Nation Pumas, but on both occasions, the men from Mbombela were in it, with each team scoring three tries apiece when they last met, on 2 January 2020.
Jimmy Stonehouse announced a team that is extremely close to his strongest possible team for today's fixture and retained most of the players that were victorious against the Bulls (44-14) six months ago.
The Pumas have been boosted by the return of No 8 Willie Engelbrecht, who was on loan to the DHL Stormers during the PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA competition and who will add some real grunt up front.
Experienced lock Pieter Janse van Vuren will yet again lead the New Nation Pumas in the Carling Currie Cup, while prop Corné Fourie’s return to Nelspruit, after stints in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Japan and England, will add to their depth in the front row.
At the back star flyhalf of the Pumas, Eddie Fouché return which sees Devon Williams moving back to fullback.
The Lions have unearthed a slew of brilliant young loose forwards recently, and all of them will be keen to build on their Rainbow Cup form in the Carling Currie Cup. Former Junior Springbok No 8 Francke Horn, who returns from injury to lead the team, will start next to Vincent Tshituka and Sibusiso Sangweni this weekend.
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen has picked a combination of experience and youth, which will be captained by No.8 Francke Horn – who has returned from injury.
Exciting youngsters like Morne Brandon, Banele Mthenjane, Ruhan Straeuli, Emmanuel Tshituka and Aidynn Cupido will all look to make their debuts from the bench.
“We look forward to an exciting Currie Cup season, where we will play matches with very short turn-around times,” Lions CEO Rudolf Straeuli said.
“Our next match will be next Wednesday, June 23, at Ellis Park – when we will host Western Province.”
Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Chriswil September, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 4 Darrien Landsberg, 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Corne Fourie. Replacements: 16 Dewald Maritz, 17 Eduan Swart, 18 Ignatius Prinsloo, 19 Brandon Valentine, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 Matt Moore, 23 Liam Hendricks.
Lions: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 11 Dillon Smit, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Nathan McBeth. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Banele Mthenjane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruhan Straeuli, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Aidynn Cupido, 23 Duncan Matthews.