The Lions received a timely boost with Springboks Quan Horn and Ruan Venter returning to the fold ahead of Friday’s crunch match in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
Fullback Horn and loose forward Venter were parachuted straight into the starting team taking on Cardiff Rugby. Horn should provide some impetus on the attack and defence with his left kicking boot, while Venter’s robustness up front can provide some good go-forward ball and help stop the home side’s attack when on defence.
Another welcome sight in the run-on XV at Cardiff Arms Park (9.35 pm start), is fetcher JC Pretorius taking over the No. 6 jersey for the battle. He replaces Jarod Cairns who drops to the bench after some impressive performances in the local derbies.
Joining Cairns amongst the replacements set to make an impact later in the game are centre Henco van Wyk, who returns after an injury, and scrumhalf Layton Horn who is in line to make his international club debut for the Lions.
Currently in eighth place on the URC log, the visitors hold their playoff fate in their own hands. Knowing how congested the log is, they will be cognisant of what a loss could mean to their campaign.
With Ulster waiting on them next weekend in Ireland, building momentum in Wales will be crucial as they continue to plot their way to the knockouts game by game.
Replacing the injured Morne van den Berg, scrumhalf Nico Steyn will be an important link between his forwards and backs and plenty of their attacks will depend on him. He has big boots to fill, but this is the right time to show his Bok virtual alignment camp call-up is no fluke.
The Lions also selected a 6-2 replacement bench split, showing that they are bracing themselves for a forwards-orientated game in the Welsh capital with some rain predicted for Friday evening.
“The return of the injured players gives us a lot of confidence,” forwards coach Barend Pieterse said.
“All of them have been very good for us during the season. All the other guys who stood in for them also did well. The decision wasn’t an easy one saying to the players he (the injured guys) comes in again. The way the guys performed in their absence says a lot about those guys.
“We are lucky to have that depth at the moment.”
Lions starting XV: 15. Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manni Rass, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabkanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman. Bench: 16 Franco Marais, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Siba Qoma, 21, Layton Horn, 22 Jarod Cairns, 23 Henco van Wyk.
