Loosehead prop Sti Sithole has taken the long road fromDurban to Johannesburg in order to find his place as a superstar scrummager atthe Emirates Lions.

At their best, the Emirates Lions have built theirenterprising attack on the foundation of a powerful set-piece.

In the Super Rugby era under Johan Ackermann and Swys deBruin, it was a unit of Jacques van Rooyen, Malcolm Marx and either JulianRedelinghuys or Dylan Smith who led the engagement at scrum time.

Now, it is 29-year-old Sithole who forms up in anotherformidable front row alongside rake PJ Botha and tighthead Ruan Dreyer.

Under Redelinghuys’ mentorship - the former Springboktook up the role of scrum coach after a neck injury forced him into retirementin 2017 - the often underestimated Lions scrum has fired on all cylinders inthe Vodacom United Rugby Championship and downshifted more fanciedopponents into reverse gear.

Sithole was forced to take the road less travelled to getto this point, powered by a conviction that he would one day be a mainstay inthe big leagues.

Starring for Westville Boys’ High’s 1st XV, Sithole was selectedfor the KwaZulu-Natal Country Districts side, effectively the KZN U18 thirdteam.  After school, Sithole was pickedup by Western Province and later proved his worth for the Junior Springboks atthe 2013 U20 Championship, alongside the likes of Handre Pollard and JesseKriel.

However, the loosehead prop stocks at Western Provincewere abundant – including the more senior trio of Steven Kitshoff, Ali Vermaakand Oli Kebble all being contracted at the time – which mostly limited Sitholeto the Vodacom Cup.

A short-term loan to the Southern Kings turned out to beexactly what Sithole needed as he used the opportunity to step out of theshadows, playing 10 games in the 2016 Super Rugby season.

Always on the hunt for a diamond in the rough, theEmirates Lions snapped up Sithole in 2016 and, though he initially had to bidehis time, a raft of departures at the end of the De Bruin-era gave Sithole ashot to lock down the No 1 jersey under coach Ivan van Rooyen.

"Sti is something else," Van Rooyen said."He's probably one of the top three athletes I've seen develop in the 12years I've been involved in rugby. He's a physical specimen.

"His growth over the past four years has beenunbelievable. I'm really happy for him.”

Sithole made his 50th appearance for the  EmiratesLions in the clash against Ulster in round 5 on the Vodacom URC, and with atrack record of successfully challenging the best of South Africa’s scrumanchors, the athletic loosehead is an imposing piece in a Lions arsenal gunningfor glory.