Lions prepare for Jukskei Derby with Currie Cup play-offs in mind

Fidelity ADT Lions head coach Mziwakhe Nkosi alongside URC head coach Ivan van Rooyen have selected a new-look 23 as his side welcome neighbors Vodacom Bulls to Ellis Park for Round 6 of the Carling Currie Cup on Saturday.

In what has been promoted as the Festival of Rugby at the iconic venue, the franchise will showcase the best it has to offer right from their Lions Under-19 and Under-21 sides who both face the Toyota Cheetahs' respective juniors as curtain-raiser matches in the SA Rugby Cup junior competition.

With one eye firmly focused on play-off ambitions in the Currie Cup as well the international season starting in just under a month, Currie Cup mentor Nkosi in tandem with Van Rooyen, have, in their match 23 selected a strong group which include Springboks Quan Horn and Ruan Venter as well as new recruits Chris Smith and winger Eduan Keyter. Junior Springbok superstar Haashim Pead is also in line for his senior debut.

"We were obviously disappointed with last week's result despite the valiant effort by the guys to come back, it certainly was not a performance we were proud of,” said Nkosi.

"This week is a different story in the sense that we need to start and finish well against Phiwe (Nomlomo) and his Bulls side who are also desperate to get points and stay in the race for play-offs," he added.

"We will use the next few rounds, certainly the next two and hopefully the knockout stages to introduce a large part of the URC group in preparation for the intercontinental tournament that will start immediately after the Currie Cup. They have been hard at work with Ivan and his management with preparations. The upcoming games are a great opportunity for those guys to get battle hardened and still push hard for a place in the semis and hopefully the final.” he concluded.

Lions Rugby Company CEO Rudolf Straeuli stressed the importance of alignment and cohesion towards success in all domestic competitions his teams are involved in.

"With the commencement of the SA Rugby Cup (junior competitions) as well the Currie Cup nearing the business end, there will be amalgamation of management teams and particularly that of Mziwakhe’s in his capacity as head coach of Currie Cup and Development Rugby and a large part of his management teams who have both served in the Currie Cup as well as the junior teams in a similar fashion to the previous season,” Straeuli explained.

“Van Rooyen in his capacity as URC head coach alongside his management will play a more pronounced role with the introduction of these players,” he concluded.

Matches start at 10am (Fidelity ADT Lions U19 v Toyota Cheetahs U19) followed by Fidelity ADT Lions U21 v Toyota Cheetahs U21 at 12pm.

Main game kicks-off at 3pm.

Fidelity ADT Lions starting XV: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Angelo Davids; 10 Chris Smit, 9 Nico Steyn; 8 WJ Steenkamp, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns; 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Dylan Sjoblom; 3 RF Schoeman, 2 PJ Botha (capt), 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Tian Wessels, 21 Haashim Pead, 22 Sam Francis, 23 Eduan Keyter.

Vodacom Bulls starting XV: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Cornel Smit, 12 Chris Barend Smit, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi; 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Zak Burger; 8 JJ Theron, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Nama Xaba (capt); 5 Dylan de Leeuw, 4 Sintu Manjezi; 3 Bryan le Roux, 2 Esethu Mnebelele, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima. Replacements: 16 Shaun Schurmann, 17 Ruan Swart, 18 Cohen Kievit, 19 Abri van der Westhuizen, 20 Marco Ferreira, 21 Brooklyn Newman, 22 PA van Niekerk, 23 Katlego Letebele.