Match 17 - Lions vs Glasgow Warriors

STARTS FOR LOMBARD, MAXWANE AS LIONS WELCOME TOP OF THE TABLE GLASGOW

• Gianni Lombard and speedster Rabz Maxwane to start against Glasgow Warriors this Saturday.
• Emmanuel Tshituka reclaims his spot in the loose trio.
• A play-off spot in the competition is still within reach for the Johannesburg side.

The Emirates Lions welcome Scottish outfit and log leaders Glasgow Warriors to Emirates Airline Park for Round 17 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. Kick-off in Johannesburg is at 16:05.

Ivan van Rooyen’s men will see Saturday as another opportunity to cement a play-off spot after a 34-13 bonus point win over Cardiff Rugby last weekend.

His assistant coach and scrum guru Julian Redelinghuys was under no illusions this week about the quality of their opponents despite going down the Vodacom Bulls in their recent fixture. In the same breath, Redelinghuys warned against relying on altitude as a weapon to pip the Franco Smith coached side.

“They’re a well-coached team and are top of the log; best in the tackling stats, and best in defensive stats,” said the former Springbok prop.

“The questions we have are, are they going to stick to their DNA, or try and do what Munster and Cardiff did, which is kick the ball and not want to play too much.”

“From our side, if you rely on the altitude to win a game for you, you’re going to make a mistake. Glasgow didn’t go lay down in the last 20 minutes against the Bulls, they actually made a step up,” he concluded.

In other team news, prop Morgan Naude returns to the starting line-up with Ruan Dreyer providing cover as an impact player. Sanele Nohamba and Jordan Hendrikse occupy the two backline spots on the bench.

Emirates Lions Match 23

1.           Morgan Naude

2.           PJ Botha

3.           Asenathi Ntlabakanye

4.           Willem Alberts

5.           Ruan Delport

6.           JC Pretorius

7.           Emmanuel Tshituka

8.           Francke Horn

9.           Morne van den Berg

10.         Gianni Lombard

11.         Edwill van der Merwe

12.         Marius Louw (c)

13.         Erich Cronje

14.         Rabz Maxwane

15.         Quan Horn

Replacements

16.         Jaco Visagie

17.         JP Smith

18.         Ruan Dreyer

19.         Reinhard Nothnagel

20.         Ruan Venter

21.         Hanru Sirgel

22.         Sanele Nohmaba

23.         Jordan Hendrikse