The Lions will field both Tshituka brothers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against Welsh side Ospreys at Ellis Park on Friday.
After a number of impressive performances off the bench, Emmanuel Tshituka joins older brother Vincent in the Lions starting lineup, with both players in the back row. Francke Horn completes the new-look combination by shifting from No 8 to openside flank.
The Burger Odendaal-led side has Rabz Maxwane coming in for Stean Pienaar, who picked up an injury against Munster this past weekend. In the final change to the match-day 23, scrumhalf Andre Warner returns to the replacements bench.
A late call will be made on Carlu Sadie’s availability and should he be ruled out, Ruan Dreyer will start and Asenathi Ntlabakanye will take a spot on the bench.
Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys emphasised earlier this week the importance of remaining in the process ahead of the Ospreys fixture.
“A two-game winning streak doesn’t really mean our season is back on track,” cautioned the Lions scrum guru.
“What we are trying to do at the moment is stay positive and maintain our processes. Key for us is continuing the hard work and pay special attention to our preparations, ensuring we put ourselves in positions to put up good performances come game day.
“We need to look at the things we are doing well in and keep getting better at them. Coming from behind to beat Munster instilled a sense of belief within the camp and the whole vibe within the camp has been fantastic,” concluded Redelinghuys.
The match kicks off at 7pm.
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.
Subs: 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.
Photo: Massimiliano Carnabuci/LiveMedia/Shutterstock
