LIONS ROAR WITH CONFIDENCE AHEAD OF URC JUKSKEI DERBY - Lions rugby

LIONS ROAR WITH CONFIDENCE AHEAD OF URC JUKSKEI DERBY

The Emirates Lions travel across the Jukskei this Saturday when they take on the Vodacom Bulls in their Round 15 clash of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld in the country’s capital.

LIONS ROAR WITH CONFIDENCE AHEAD OF URC JUKSKEI DERBY

The Emirates Lions travel across the Jukskei this Saturday when they take on the Vodacom Bulls in their Round 15 clash of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld in the country’s capital.

Fresh from their 35-24 victory over Glasgow Warriors at Emirates Airline Park last weekend, the men from Johannesburg head to Pretoria with momentum and confidence on their side in what is poised to be a classic derby between the two neighbours.

Springbok Willem Alberts makes a return to the starting XV after being rested for his team’s victory against Glasgow Warriors last week. The ‘Bone Collector’ pairs up with Ruben Schoeman in the locking department, while the half-back pairing of Sanele Nohamba and Gianni Lombard continues at 9 and 10 respectively.

Jaco Kriel (injury) and Ruan Dreyer (suspension) miss out this weekend, with prop Ruan Smith and loose- forward Jarod Cairns covering those positions off the bench.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s local derby, Backline and Attack coach Ricardo Loubscher says getting one over local opposition is not only creating but finishing opportunities when they arise.

“We had a look at those games and sometimes it comes down to execution. If you look back at the Sharks game, we were in the game creating the right opportunities, but it comes down to finishing those chances. There’s been a big focus from us in the last week or two is to nail the opportunities during training and transfer that on game,” said the former Bok fullback.

Fresh from his Player of the Match performance against Glasgow Warriors last week, link man Francke Horne says the focus ahead of the Jukskei derby is on alignment and most importantly, execution.

“As players, we don’t focus too much on the records against SA teams. The big thing for us this week has been alignment ahead of Saturday- we have a strategy and a plan in place, and I think if we can execute on that we could be in for a very competitive game. It’s for us now to stick to our plans and execute well on Saturday, “ said the Emirates Lions eighth man.

Kick-off is at 16:45 at Loftus Versfeld.

Emirates Lions

1. JP Smith
2. PJ Botha
3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye
4. Willem Alberts
5. Ruben Schoeman
6. Emmanuel Tshituka
7. Ruan Venter
8. Francke Horn
9. Sanele Nohamba
10. Gianni Lombard
11. Edwill van der Merwe
12. Marius Louw (c)
13. Manuel Rass
14. Rabz Maxwane
15. Quan Horn

Replacements
16. Morne Brandon
17. Rhynardt Rijnsburger
18. Ruan Smith
19. Ruan Delport
20. Jarod Cairns
21. Morne van den Berg
22. Rynhardt Jonker
23. Andries Coetzee