Lions make enforced changes for Glasgow knockout

The Lions have been forced to make two changes to their starting 15 for their Challenge Cup quarterfinal clash against the Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow on Saturday night (kick-off 9pm).

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen has tried to keep faith with the players that have been performing brilliantly over a four game winning run across the United Rugby Championship (URC) and Challenge Cup, but has had to make to changes to his forward pack for the Glasgow game.

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Springbok veteran Jaco Kriel comes straight into the starting line-up for fellow loose forward Emmanuel Tshituka, who was handed a three game ban earlier in the week after receiving a red card in the Lions impressive last 16 win over Racing 92 last weekend.

The other change sees lock Reinhard Nothnagel out with an injury, with Ruben Schoeman coming in from the bench and Ruan Delport taking his place among the substitutes.

With the experienced Kriel back in the starting line-up, he will be playing an integral role in getting a lot of the guys ready for something they haven’t experienced before, a European knockout clash, with him admitting the competition is a great place for the guys to test themselves.

“The EPCR Challenge Cup is a new thing to all of us and has been amazing. I played a bit in the Champions Cup when I was back in the UK and it was quite a big thing,” said Kriel.

“The Challenge Cup is really nice and a bit of a different competition which allows the guys to get exposure all over the world. So it is really nice to play in and measure yourself against some of the best in the world.

“You play against international players week in and week out, so there is no way that you can slack off on the weekend and it is a good competition for you to challenge yourself in.”

Lions: Quan Horn, Rabz Maxwane, Manuel Rass, Marius Louw (c), Edwill van der Merwe, Gianni Lombard, Sanele Nohamba, Francke Horn, Ruan Venter, Jaco Kriel, Ruben Schoeman, Willem Alberts, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, PJ Botha, JP Smith

Bench: Morne Brandon, Rhynardt Rijnsburger, Ruan Dreyer, Ruan Delport, Travis Gordon, Morne van den Berg, Rynhardt Jonker, Andries Coetzee