Durban — The Tshituka brothers, Vincent and Emmanuel, will pack down alongside each other in a new-look Lions loose trio for Friday night’s United Rugby Championship home match against the Ospreys.
With regular flank and captain Jaco Kriel injured, Francke Horn completes the new-look back-row combination from the No 6 position while the captaincy again reverts to Burger Odendaal, who is in the form of his life at inside centre.
On the right wing, Rabz Maxwane comes in for Stean Pienaar, who picked up an injury against Munster last weekend. Scrumhalf Andre Warner returns to the side from the replacements’ bench.
Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuy has emphasised the importance of concentrating on performance and the process ahead of the Ospreys fixture.
He says the Lions cannot afford to get ahead of themselves after the euphoria of upsetting Munster last week.
“A two-game winning streak doesn’t really mean our season is back on track,” cautioned the former Springbok prop,.
“What we are trying to do at the moment is to stay positive and maintain our processes. Key for us is continuing the hard work and paying special attention to our preparations, ensuring we put ourselves in positions to put up good performances come game day.”
Redelinghuys says the Lions must remain performance-driven and if they get that right, the results will take care of themselves.
“We need to look at the things we are doing well and keep getting better at them. The way we came from behind to beat Munster has instilled a sense of belief within the camp and the whole vibe within the camp has been fantastic this week,” concluded Redelinghuys.
Kick-off is at 7pm at Emirates Airline Park.
The @emirates Lions are set to unleash the Tshituka brothers against Ospreys this Friday night in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Emirates Airline Park.#LIOvOSP | @Vodacom #URC https://t.co/yCxEMqYgqe
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Francke Horn, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie/Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole.
Substitutes: 16 PJ Botha, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer/Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel/EW Viljoen.
IOL Sport