Bok reinforcements steel Lions for Euro tour
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The Lions begin a three-match tour of Europe in Cardiff on Friday night and forwards coach Barend Pieterse hailed the confidence boost of returning Springboks.
A decisive two-week Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour takes in clashes with Cardiff and defending champions Glasgow, placed sixth and second respectively, followed by a Challenge Cup round of 16 trip to Edinburgh on 4 April before they return to Ellis Park to end the URC regular season hosting Benetton, Connacht, Scarlets and Ospreys.
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The Lions squad has been reinforced by the return of one-Test flanker Ruan Venter, Bok fullback Quan Horn and centre Henco van Wyk, while Bok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg misses out due to a finger injury suffered during his man-of-the-match performance against the Sharks at Kings Park.
Fit-again Kade Wolhuter has been included as flyhalf cover and could make his first URC appearance since December, while scrumhalf Layton Horn is undertaking his debut tour with the team.
“The return of Quan, Kade, Henco and Ruan is great for us. It gives us confidence,” Pieterse said at a Lions press conference on Wednesday. “All of them have been crucial for us throughout the season and every player that stepped in for them while they were injured played a big role.
“It hasn’t been an easy decision to leave guys out for them to come back into the squad. We are lucky to have that depth at the moment.”
Having climbed into eighth place with the losing bonus point gained from a 25-22 reverse against the Sharks in Durban, the Lions are just one point clear of Benetton in 13th and must bounce back in Wales and Scotland to fortify their position in the playoff race.
“The Cardiff game is going to be very tough,” Pieterse added. “They are not the same team they have been over the past three seasons with their head coach Matt Sherratt being more involved with coaching Wales.
“I know their forward coach Corniel van Zyl very well. They are a well-drilled team and have improved dramatically since last season. We need to get points in these next two games so that we can be in a position that when we get back home to Ellis Park our future is in our hands. We don’t want to be relying on other teams to lose for us to get a playoff spot.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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