50 up for Venter as Cash keeps the faith
03/28/2025 06:43 AM
Ruan Venter will celebrate his 50th appearance for the Lions as coach Cash van Rooyen has retained an unchanged starting XV for the clash with defending URC champions Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night.
The Lions fell out of the top 8 to 13th place after the reverse in Cardiff last week but still remain in the hunt with just four points separating Van Rooyen’s side from Munster in sixth and Ellis Park scheduled to host four URC matches following the European tour.
Henco van Wyk has been relegated to the stands along with Bok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg after the midfield dynamo suffered a foot injury during the defeat in the Welsh capital – Rynhardt Jonker has been promoted to the bench.
Captain Francke Horn runs out at No 8 in a back-row combination with fetcher JC Pretorius and blindside bulldozer Ruan Venter, set to celebrate his 50th cap for the Lions.
Veteran hooker PJ Botha is flanked by loosehead Juan Schoeman and tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakanye, the front row backed up by locks Ruben Schoeman and Darrien Landsberg are the lock pairing.
In the backline, Nico Steyn partners Gianni Lombard in the halfbacks, while Marius Louw and Manuel Rass man the midfield. Quan Horn starts at fullback, linking with Springbok speedster Edwill van der Merwe and Richard Kriel in the back three.
LIONS – 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman
Bench: 16 Franco Marais, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 Jarod Cairns, 22 Layton Horn, 23 Rynhardt Jonker
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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