Lions wary of Cheetahs’ bite

The fight of the cats is on. Emirates Lions and Toyota Cheetahs will face each other this coming Saturday April 25 at the local franchise home grounds.

“We are quite wary of the fact that the Cheetahs are a dangerous team to take on, never knowing how they will play. They are an unknown factor and said that if they win all their remaining matches, they will still be in a play-off situation,” said head coach of the Emirates LionsJohan Ackermann.

The two teams will play on Saturday April 25 at Emirates Airlines Park. The match will kick off at 17:05, and will be preceded by the Vodacom Cup clash between the Xerox Golden Lions and Leopards at 14:30.

The Lions have lost one of their stalwarts, Derick Minnie, who has sustained an injury during Tuesday’s training session. He has undergone knee surgery, and will be out for the rest of the season.

Ackermann has made three changes to his team which beat the Cell C Sharks. The Lions has also had their one week off and are back on track for the next match.

“The Cheetahs will keep us on our toes, and we will focus on our team and what we are good at. We have lost Derick (Minnie), who is one of our senior leadership in the group, and he is a fantastic loose-forward,” said captain Warren Whiteley.

In the forwards, Armand van der Merwe will start at hooker, while Ruan Dreyer has been drafted in at tighthead prop.

The backline sees just one change, with Courtnall Skosan starting at left wing, having recovered from injury.

On the bench, MB Lusaseni also moves into the match day side, having recovered from his long-term injury. This is his first inclusion in the 2015 competition.

Tickets as well as season tickets are still available via Lionsrugby.computicket.com from just R40.

15. Andries Coetzee

14. Ruan Combrinck

13. Lionel Mapoe

12. Harold Vorster

11. Courtnall Skosan

10. Elton Jantjies

9. Faf de Klerk

8. Warren Whiteley (c)

7. Warwick Tecklenburg

6. Jaco Kriel

5. Franco Mostert

4. Andries Ferreira

3. Ruan Dreyer

2. Armand van der Merwe

1. Jacques van Rooyen

16. Robbie Coetzee

17. Corne Fourie

18. Julian Redelinghuys

19. MB Lusaseni

20. Robert Kruger

21. Ross Cronje

22. Marnitz Boshoff

23. Howard Mnisi

Xerox Golden Lions vs Leopards

Xerox Golden Lions head coach Russell Winter has named his 22-man outfit to face the Leopards in the Vodacom Cup on Saturday.

15. Ashlon Davids

14. Mark Richards13. Jacques Nel

12. Alwyn Hollenbach

11. Sampie Mastriet

10. Jaco van der Walt

9. Ricky Schroeder (c)

8. Jano Venter

7. Fabian Booysen

6. Ruaan Lerm

5. JP du Preez

4. Bobby de Wee

3. Pieter Scholtz

2. Mark Pretorius

1. Schalk van der Merwe

16. Ramone Samuels

17. Dylan Smith

18. Lourens Erasmus

19. Ruan Ackermann

20. Lohan Jacobs

21. Stokkies Hanekom

22. Damian Engledoe/Kobus de Kock