Henco and the Horn’s in for Lions URC quarterfinal against Leinster
· Citizen
The Lions named their strongest possible team to take on Leinster in their first ever United Rugby Championship (URC) quarterfinal, with captain Francke Horn, Quan Horn and Henco van Wyk all passed fit for the clash at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night (kick-off 9pm).
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Francke Horn and Van Wyk both went off injured in the Lions final URC pool match against Munster in Limerick a couple of weeks ago and were in a race against time to prove their fitness, while earlier in the week scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys said Quan Horn was also a doubt.
But all three were in training and have come through successfully, and all will start in their regular positions at eighthman, outside centre and fullback respectively.
It is a major boost for the Lions with them having already lost important senior stars Ruan Venter to a knee injury, Morne van den Berg to a bicep tear and Asenathi Ntlabakanye to a doping ban, so a further three major losses would have likely been a hammer blow to their chances.
Changes
The only changes from the team that went down to Munster, see scrumhalf Nico Steyn come in for Van Den Berg, and Erich Cronje returns from injury to take his place on the left wing, with Angelo Davids switching to the right and Kelly Mpeku dropping out of the squad.
On the bench the only change sees Franco Marais come in ahead of Morne Brandon, while loose forward JC Pretorius will make his 50th international appearance for the Lions when he is introduced at some stage during the match.
Speaking in the build up to the game, Redelinghuys said that the team that has better momentum will have the best chance of coming out on top.
“The team that goes forward when contact takes place has a better chance, whether it’s attack, defence or set piece,” explained Redelinghuys.
“We know what we want to achieve this weekend, and we believe if we get that right, it will give us a good chance.”
Lions starting XV
Quan Horn, Angelo Davids, Henco van Wyk, Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Chris Smith, Nico Steyn, Francke Horn (c), Batho Hlekani, Siba Mahashe, Darrien Landsberg, Reinhard Nothnagel, Sebastien Lombard, PJ Botha, SJ Kotze
Bench: Franco Marais, Eddie Davids, RF Schoeman, Ruan Delport, Siba Qoma, JC Pretorius, Rynhardt Jonker, Haashim Pead