Ntlabakanye and Van den Berg start for Lions against Benetton

Lions head coach Ivan ‘Cash’ van Rooyen has included Springboks Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Morne van den Berg in his run on XV for Round 1 of the EPCR Challenge Cup against Benetton on Saturday.

The Johannesburg side are flying high after their win against the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria last week, a welcome confidence booster as they prepare to take on the Italians at Ellis Park.

Returning from international duty this week, and speaking to the media earlier this week, the Ntlabakanye is eager to transfer the knowledge gained from his time with four-time world champions in recent weeks.

“Every time I come back from the Boks, I learn things I can bring here. We have to maintain that standard heading into this weekend,” he said.

Reflecting on his side’s last week performance, the Bok prop lauded his teammates on their preparations during the international break and stressed the importance of a repeat effort.

“It was good to see the hard work pay off. To win at Loftus for the first time since 2023 was massive,” he said. “But we can’t be a one-performance team. We have to prove we can go back-to-back.”

Saturday’s line-up sees the return of Erich Cronje at outside centre alongside Bronson Mills. The only other change is on the bench with Richard Kriel as one of the impact players.

Lions starting XV: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Eduan Keyter; 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg; 8 Francke Horn (capt), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns; 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen; 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Franco Marais, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Edward Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Richard Kriel, 23 Gianni Lombard.

EPCR Challenge Cup

Lions v Benetton - Saturday @ Ellis Park, Johannesburg (3pm)

Referee: Kevin Bralley (Fra)

TV: SuperSport