Emirates Lions mentor Ivan van Rooyen has re-organised his half back combination for this weekend’s crucial Round 11 Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash against the Hollywoodbets Sharks. Kick-off in Johannesburg is at 15:00.

Pivot Jordan Hendrikse makes his way back into the starting XV where he will be responsible for his side’s attack, alongside Sanele Nohamba as his halfback partner.

Elsewhere, JC Pretorius gets his opportunity to add a different dimension to a loose trio consisting of the powerful Ruan Venter and elusive Francke Horn at eighth man.

After a disappointing outcome against the Vodacom Bulls a fortnight ago, the Johannesburg franchise will be looking to remedy that performance this Saturday in front of their home fans at the iconic Emirates Airline Park, where a win would bode well for their quest towards a play-off spot come end of the season.

Speaking earlier this week, the team’s lineout guru Barend Pieterse identified set piece dominance as the key pressure reliever for his side ahead of Saturday, especially against a Sharks outfit who have the quality to disrupt that aspect of the game.

“I think the biggest take out for us after the Bulls game was that we let ourselves down in our execution; from our set piece to general defence, down to work rate,” he said.

“If you don’t win your set piece, you are always going to be on the backfoot which makes it harder to execute general set plays. For us, that was big learning two weeks ago and hopefully we can improve on that come Saturday,” Pieterse concluded.

Round 11 is the Origins themed round celebrating the journey from Grassroots to Greatness. The Emirates Lions Match 23 will don their school/club sock colours for the match, paying homage to where their development began.

Emirates Lions: Quan Horn (Paarl Boys’ High), Richard Kriel (Grey College), Henco van Wyk (Hoёrskool Monument), Marius Louw (Grey College, captain), Edwill van der Merwe (Paul Roos), Jordan Hendrikse (Glenwood High School), Sanele Nohamba (Durban High School), Francke Horn (Paarl Boys’ High), Ruan Venter (Paarl Boys’), JC Pretorius (HTS Middelburg), Darrien Landsberg (Northcliff High School), Etienne Oosthuizen (Bersig Academy ), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (St Stithians), PJ Botha (Hoёrskool Monument), JP Smith (Paarl Gimnasium)

Replacements: Jaco Visagie (Augsburg Agricultural Gimnasium), Corne Fourie (Hoërskool Waterkloof ), Conraad van Vuuren (Hoёrskool Nelspruit), Reinhard Nothnagel (Hoёrskool Monument), Emmanuel Tshituka (Northcliff High School), Hanru Sirgel (Grens Hoёrskool), Morne van den Berg (Hoёrskool Linden), Erich Cronje (EG Jansen)