Lions look to end difficult tour with a bang against Warriors

The 10bet Lions take on Scottish outfit Glasgow Warriors in Round 5 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Friday. Kick off at the Scotstoun is at 9.45pm (SAst)

Following last week’s stumble against Edinburgh, the Johannesburg side go into Friday’s fixture eager to end off a difficult tour on a high before travelling back to South Africa.

Head coach Ivan Rooyen, in his team selection, has opted for a new-look front row which sees SJ Kotze (loosehead), Tiaan Lange (hooker) and RF Schoeman (tighthead) combine to put the opposition scrum under pressure - a feature of the of the Lions which has been dominant over the past few seasons. Etienne Oosthuizen returns to the second row after leaving the field against Edinburgh.

Francke Horn continues his leadership in the loose trio alongside fit-again Siba Qoma (concussion) and the athletic Siba Mahashe. The only change in the backline sees Springbok Morne van den Berg return at scrumhalf with last week’s starter Nico Steyn providing cover on the bench.

Assistant coach Wessel Roux is wary of the challenge Franco Smith’s will bring ahead of Friday night, especially with the international contingent they have at their disposal.

“They’re a really good side,” said Roux. “Most of them are international players, really well coached by Franco and they have a real attacking mindset with amazing skills in the wet. Their set-piece is also good.”

Roux admitted that his side’s lineout performance was a talking point after Edinburgh but indicated that it’s something which has been addressed quite extensively ahead of Glasgow,

“We just had a combination of calls that were communicated incorrectly. Once or twice, we made the wrong call, so there was a communication issue, which is something we’ve worked on.

“It was just a combination of a few things but we’ve spoken about it at length and found solutions,” he concluded.

In the other team news, Boan Venter, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Boeta Chamberlain are some of the replacement players ready to provide impact from the bench.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Smith said: "The Lions play a unique brand of rugby that makes them a challenge for any team in the BKT URC and we know that we must be switched on throughout the match in order to take on that challenge.

“We look forward to running out in front of the Warrior Nation one more time before the international window and we know that they will get behind us at what’s set to be a sold out Scotstoun.”

10bet Lions starting XV: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Erich Cronje; 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg; 8 Francke Horne (capt), 7 Siba Qoma, 6 Siba Mahashe; 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen; 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Richard Kriel, 23 Boeta Chamberlain.

FRIDAY

Glasgow Warriors v 10bet Lions

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – KO 7.45pm IRE & UK/8.45pm ITA/9.45pm SA

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 63rd league game)

AR 1: Mike Adamson (SRU) AR 2: David Sutherland (SRU)

TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)

Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv