“It’s great to be back at home with a 15:00 kick-off. The Highlanders game will be a nice challenge and I believe a lot of their players will make the All Blacks side,” said Emirates Lions head coach Johan Ackermann.
The Emirates Lions will face one of the top teams in the Vodacom Super Rugby series, the Highlanders.
The match will be played at the Emirates Airlines Park and will start at 15:00.
“We still want to improve in a lot of areas, such as the scrums and line-outs, where we’re not consistent enough. The way in which we start this weekend against the Highlanders will also be important, because we didn’t get a good start last weekend against the Bulls,” said captain Warren Whiteley.
Ackermann has made two changes upfront – Schalk van der Merwe will start at loosehead and Robbie Coetzee, having made a full recovery this week, has been included at hooker. Armand van der Merwe and Jacques van Rooyen are on the bench.
In the backline, Ross Cronje will start at scrumhalf and will link up with Marnitz Boshoff, who shifts from fullback to flyhalf for this game.
Courtnall Skosan returns at left wing, Andries Coetzee moves to fullback and Alwyn Hollenbach will start at inside centre.
Faf de Klerk, Elton Jantjies and Howard Mnisi are joined on the bench by Ruaan Lerm, who made his debut earlier in the season.
Tickets are still available for the match from just R40, via Lionsrugby.computicket.com or at any Computicket outlet.
The teams are:
Emirates Lions: Andries Coetzee, Ruan Combrinck, Harold Vorster, Alwyn Hollenbach, Courtnall Skosan, Ross Cronje, Warren Whiteley (captain), Warwick Tecklenburg, Jaco Kriel, Franco Mostert, Andries Ferreira, Julian Redelinghuys, Robbie Coetzee, Schalk van der Merwe. Replacements: Armand van der Merwe, Jacques van Rooyen, Ruan Dreyer, Robert Kruger, Ruaan Lerm, Faf de Klerk, Elton Jantjies, Howard Mnisi.
Highlanders: Ben Smith (co-captain), Waisake Naholo, Malakai Fekitoa, Richard Buckman, Patrick Osborne, Lima Sopoaga, Aaron Smith, Nasi Manu (co-captain), Dan Pryor, Gareth Evans, Mark Reddish, Tom Franklin, Josh Hohneck, Liam Coltman, Kane Hames. Replacements: Ash Dixon, Brendon Edmonds, Ross Geldenhuys, Elliot Dixon, John Hardie, Fumiaki Tanaka, Marty Banks, Jason Emery.
In the meantime, the Cell C Sharks and the DHL Stormers will all be looking to return to winning ways in Round 13 of the Vodacom Super Rugby series this weekend.
The KwaZulu-Natal team probably faces the toughest task when they take on the table-topping Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday morning – a team they should know well. The Kiwis’ head coach, Chris Boyd and assistant coach John Plumtree, were involved with the Cell C Sharks previously, although it was in reversed roles.
Two matches are scheduled in South Africa on Saturday afternoon.
The DHL Stormers hosts the Australian Conference-leading Brumbies in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon. Both these teams lost last week and will want to clinch a victory to keep them in the playoff race. A bonus-point victory will see the Capetonians moving back to the top of the SA Conference.
Hurricanes vs Cell C Sharks
The Cell C Sharks’ backline shows six changes from last week – Lwazi Mvovo is at fullback and S’bura Sithole at left wing, with Odwa Ndungane moving to the right wing.
Frans Steyn is back at inside centre, while Lionel Cronje and Stefan Ungerer will earn their first starts at flyhalf and scrumhalf respectively.
Upfront, an injury to Willem Alberts means Renaldo Bothma is back at No 8, while Jannie du Plessis returns at tighthead prop for Lourens Adriaanse.
The new faces on the bench are Adriaanse, Kyle Cooper and Andre Esterhuizen, who started at inside centre last week.
Reggie Goodes, who is on the Hurricanes’ bench, is from Pretoria and represented the Blue Bulls at the Coca-Cola u. 13 Craven Week in 2004.
The teams are:
Hurricanes: Nehe Milner-Skudder, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith (captain), Ma’a Nonu, Matt Proctor, James Marshall, Chris Smylie, Victor Vito, Ardie Savea, Blade Thomson, James Broadhurst, Jeremy Thrush, Ben Franks, Motu Matu’u, Chris Eves. Replacements: Brayden Mitchell, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Reggie Goodes, Callum Gibbins, Brad Shields, Frae Wilson, Otere Black, Rey Lee-Lo.
Cell C Sharks: Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, JP Pietersen, Frans Steyn, S’bura Sithole, Lionel Cronje, Stefan Ungerer, Renaldo Bothma, Etienne Oosthuizen, Marcell Coetzee, Marco Wentzel (captain), Stephan Lewies, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: Franco Marais, Dale Chadwick, Lourens Adriaanse, Mouritz Botha, Kyle Cooper, Conrad Hoffmann, Andre Esterhuizen, Waylon Murray.
DHL Stormers vs Brumbies
Juan de Jongh has been bracketed at outside centre with Huw Jones for the DHL Stormers and will be given until Saturday to prove his fitness.
Upfront, Eben Etzebeth and Steven Kitshoff return from their break last week for Jean Kleyn and Oli Kebble respectively, while Manuel Carizza replaces the injured Ruan Botha in the second row.
Kleyn will start on the bench, where Jones is bracketed with Pat Howard should De Jongh miss out.
Brumbies props JP and Ruan Smith are South African-born, hail from Vryburg and attended Paarl Gymnasium before relocating to Australia a few years ago. Ruan played SA Schools in 2008, while both brothers represented Western Province at u.19 and u.21 levels.
The teams are:
DHL Stormers: Cheslin Kolbe, Johnny Kotze, Juan de Jongh / Huw Jones, Damian de Allende, Dillyn Leyds, Demetri Catrakilis, Nic Groom, Duane Vermeulen (captain), Siya Kolisi, Schalk Burger, Manuel Carizza, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: Scarra Ntubeni, Alistair Vermaak, Vincent Koch, Jean Kleyn, Nizaam Carr, Louis Schreuder, Kurt Coleman, Huw Jones / Pat Howard.
Brumbies: Jesse Mogg, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Robbie Coleman, Joe Tomane, Christian Lealiifano, Nic White, Ita Vaea, David Pocock, Scott Fardy, Sam Carter, Rory Arnold, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore (captain), JP Smith. Replacements: Josh Mann-Rea, Allan Alaalatoa, Ruan Smith, Jordan Smiler, Jarrad Butler, Michael Dowsett, Nigel Ah Wong, James Dargaville.
Other fixtures (SA kick-off times):
Friday May 8:
09:35: Crusaders v Reds – Christchurch
11:40: Rebels v Blues – Melbourne
Saturday, May 9:11:40: Force v Waratahs – Perth
Byes: Vodacom Bulls, Toyota Cheetahs, Chiefs
