Centre Henco van Wyk has been recalled to the starting lineup as the Lions look for a second Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour win when they take on Cardiff in the Welsh capital on Friday.
The Lions will be gunning for a two-win start to their tour when they take on Cardiff in round three of the URC at Cardiff Arms Park. In two changes in the starting XV, Van Wyk and lock Pieter Jansen van Vuren get an opportunity to fire against the Welsh club.
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Jansen van Vuren will be making his first start of the season, while Van Wyk will resume the midfield combination with Marius Louw that started in the opening fixture of the campaign against the Vodacom Bulls.
As a result, Zander du Plessis drops to the bench, while Ruben Schoeman is out of the match-day 23, with Ruan Venter providing cover at lock on the bench.
Lions defence guru Jaque Fourie praised his team’s defensive effort against Ospreys last week but believes Cardiff presents a different challenge.
“The Welsh sides pride themselves with big forward packs coupled with backline players who enjoy throwing the ball around,” explains Fourie.
“Cardiff will be no different this Friday as I’m sure they will come with a heavy pack and nippy backline players, who can take the ball wide. In saying that, we have done our homework on them and prepared well in the week.”
The former Springbok centre also spoke about starting well in the competition especially away from home.
“It’s our second year in the competition, so we have a pretty good idea of what to expect especially when playing overseas. Starting well and picking up points over here sets the tone for when we head back home,” Fourie concluded.
Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Franke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (c), 4 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Ruhan Straeuli, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Zander du Plessis.
Photo: Twitter/@Springboks
