The Emirates Lions host the Vodacom Bulls for the return leg of the Jukskei Derby in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. Kick off at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday is at 15:00.

Reflecting on his side’s marginal loss (30-28) against the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria nearly three weeks ago, scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys believes there has been enough time to fix elements of their game ahead of the return leg on Saturday.

“There were lots of learnings from the last time we played them at Loftus,” said the former Springbok prop.

“We were obviously disappointed coming out of that game but the great thing since then is that we have had three weeks to prepare which gave us to time to fix a few things on our part, so hopefully we’ll see the results of those fixes come Saturday.”

Redelinghuys went onto say that although the performance against their Pretoria neighbours was admirable last time around, the players felt more could be done step things up ahead of Saturday’s crunch game.

“The players themselves drive really high standards and the best thing from a coach’s perspective is that it all comes from them. So even though we’ve had good performances, they still know that there are areas where they can improve- and that’s what they keep chasing, ” he concluded.

Lock Etienne Oosthuizen runs on for his first URC match for his new team, after some impressive performances in the EPCR Challenge Cup.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity. Being out of rugby for so long and working hard towards this opportunity to finally play a URC game and prove exactly why am I here and what I can bring to the team was always my goal. The approach for me is focus on the basics and the rest will take of itself.”

Having not played the game for two years due to medical reasons, the 1.98m lock says having the confidence of his teammates makes it easier as prepares to put on the number 4 jumper.

“I must say that my previous games in the EPCR Challenge Cup competition were very nervy as I didn’t really know how the body would react. I gained confidence out that experience however and it just makes this first URC game for me a lot easier. I also have a good grouping of guys around that can help me in the game so I’m very confident,” he concludes.

Emirates Lions Match 23

1. JP Smith
2. Jaco Visagie
3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye
4. Etienne Ossthuizen
5. Reinhard Nothnagel
6. Hanru Sirgel
7. Ruan Venter
8. Francke Horn
9. Morne van den Berg
10. Sanele Nohamba
11. Edwill van der Merwe
12. Marius Louw (c)
13. Henco van Wyk
14. Richard Kriel
15. Quan Horn

Replacements
16. PJ Botha
17. Morgan Naude
18. Conraad van Vuuren
19. Darrien Landsberg
20. Izan Esterhuizen
21. JC Pretorius
22. Jordan Hendrikse
23. Erich Cronje