The Emirates Lions have named a strong 23-man side to face Italian-based outfit Zebre in their opening fixture of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match on Friday in Parma.

Commenting on his selections, Emirates Lions head coach Ivan ‘Cash’ van Rooyen:

“It’s an exciting new chapter for the Emirates Lions, and we are really looking forward to our first match tomorrow against Zebre.”

“The URC will test our character as a group, but it’s a challenge we are up for. We believe the match-23 we’ve decided upon will be competitive on the day and hopefully establish some momentum going into the next few weeks of the tournament,” concluded van Rooyen.

Emirates Lions
15 EW Viljoen,14 Jamba Ulengo,13 Wandisile Simelane,12 Burger Odendaal (c),11 Rabz Maxwane ,10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Pieter Jansen Van Vuren, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Ruan Dreyer

Replacements
16 PJ Botha, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Eddie Fouche, 23 Divan Rossouw.

Kick-off is at 18:35 (SA and ITA time) at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma.

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU, 10th league game)
AR1: Riccardo Angelucci (FIR), AR2: Federico Boraso (FIR),
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)
Live on: OTT, SuperSport and Premier Sport