The Emirates Lions will head to Belfast in their final tour fixture of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship (VURC) to face Irish side, Ulster at Kingspan Stadium on Friday.
Carlu Sadie makes a return to the starting line-up, with Reinhard Nothnagel and Sibusiso Sangweni collecting their first starting berths in the VURC.
Nothnagel comes in for the injured Pieter Jansen van Vuren, while Sangweni features in what reflects a few selection rotations in the match 23.
Commenting on last week’s performance against Glasgow Warriors, Emirates Lions head coach, Ivan van Rooyen, was upbeat ahead of his team’s fourth round encounter.
“There were quite a few aspects we felt we improved on in our performance against Glasgow Warriors last week, and that’s the kind of momentum we want to take into the Ulster game.”
“This is the final game of our 4-week tour so naturally we want to end it on a high,” he concluded.
Wilhelm van der Sluys, Emmanuel Tshituka and flyhalf Fred Zeilinga will all have an opportunity to make their tournament debuts off the substitutes bench on Friday.
Kicks-off is at 20:35 (SA time).
Referee: Mike Adamson
Emirates Lions
- Sti Sithole
- Jaco Visagie
- Carlu Sadie
- Ruben Schoeman
- Reinhard Nothnagel
- Sibusiso Sangweni
- Vincent Tshituka
- Ruhan Straeuli
- Andre Warner
- EW Viljoen
- Rabz Maxwane
- Burger Odendaal (c)
- Manuel Rass
- Stean Pienaar
- Divan Rossouw
Replacements
- PJ Botha
- Ruan Dreyer
- Asenathi Ntlabakanye
- Wilhelm van der Sluys
- Emmanuel Tshituka
- Morne van den Berg
- Fred Zeilinga
- Wandisile Simelane
- The Lions u20s will be in action in the semi-final of the SA Rugby u20 Cup against the Cell C Sharks at Emirates Airline Park on Friday.
The Lions ended their campaign top of the log, after five wins and one draw. The previous encounter between the Lions and the visitors from Durban ended in a 27-15 win for the Jozi side.
The match kicks-off at 13:00.
Lions U20
- Heiko Pohlmann
- Jacques-Lois du Toit
- Sibusiso Shongwe
- Babalo Makana
- Conor van Buuren
- Jarod Cairns
- Ruan Venter
- Izan Esterhuizen
- Nico Steyn
- Jurich Claasens
- Boldwin Hansen
- Tyler Bocks (c)
- Ngia Selengbe
- Indiphile Tyeda
- Quan Horn
Replacements
- Allister Williams
- Okuhle Siyeni
- Kabous Bezuidenhout
- Justin Kalamer
- Sisonke Vumazonke
- Sihlalo Benge
- Josh Jonas
- Setshaba Mokoena
- Henco van Wyk
- Joshua van Vreden
- Prince Mulea
