The Emirates Lions have named their line-up for their first match on tour against Edinburg on Saturday at 18:00. The Emirates Lions are still looking for their first win of the 2023/24 United Rugby Champions after losing the Round 1 fixture against the DHL Stormers, 35-33.
Speedster Edwill van der Merwe returns to the Emirates Lions' starting XV as they take on Scottish outfit Edinburgh for Round 2 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. The Emirates Lions Player of the Year missed out on selection last week due to injury, but slots right back into his familiar left-wing position after being cleared to play.
Last weekend’s try-scorers from the replacements bench Ruan Venter and Henco van Wyk crack the nod in the starting XV after an immense effort in the latter stages of the game hosted at Emirates Airline Park.
Speaking ahead of Saturday, Emirates Lions Head Coach Ivan van Rooyen believes he has the right balance of players on this tour who have the ability to vary his side’s play in conditions a far cry from sunny South Africa.
“I’m really excited about the group we have going into this 4-week tour. I feel we’ve gone with a dynamic mix of players who can go physical and where needs be, have the option to select players to speed the game up.
“We are expecting strong line-ups from all four teams we will be facing with a couple of their internationals reporting back for club duty. Pitch conditions are something we are also familiar with in that there will be a combination of grass and artificial surfaces over the next four weeks.”
“We’ve learnt a lot from this past weekend. We played with good intensity and when we were physically dominant in certain parts of the game, we had the makings of a championship team. Unfortunately, there were moments where we were inconsistent and that for us is a big work on ahead of Saturday and the rest of the tour,” he concluded.
Emirates Lions: 1 Corne Fourie, 2. PJ Botha, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 4. Ruben Schoeman, 5. Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 6. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Ruan Venter, 8. Francke Horn, 9. Sanele Nohamba, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 12. Marius Louw (c), 13. Henco van Wyk, 14. Richard Kriel, 15. Quan Horn. Replacements: 16. Jaco Visagie, 17. Morgan Naude, 18. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19. Willem Alberts, 20. Hanru Sirgel, 21. Morne van den Berg, 22. Rynardt Jonker, 23. Andries Coetzee.
