Preview: Lions vs Dragons

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Catch up on everything you need to know leading up to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash between the Lions and Dragons in Johannesburg on Sunday.
STATE OF THE URC: Red-hot Stormers, Bulls reload

#LIOvDRA

  • Andre Warner and Asenathi Ntlabakanye in line to make their first appearances of the season for Lions if called upon from the bench
  • Sio Timkinson returns to Dragons RFC starting XV

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruhan Straeuli, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (c), 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Zander du Plessis

Dragons RFC: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 David Richards, 13 Steff Hughes, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Sio Tomkinson, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Lewis Jones; 8 Ross Moriarty (c), 7 Ben Fry, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Sean Lonsdale,  4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 James Benjamin, 1 Aki Seiuli.
Subs: 16 Ellis Shipp, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Huw Taylor, 21 Che Hope, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Jordan Williams.

BY THE NUMBERS: Lions vs Dragons

Dragons RFC Head Coach Dai Flanagan said: “We’re excited to be in South Africa. The pitches should suit what we are trying to do in attack and we’re just looking to express ourselves. There’s an opportunity for certain players with the internationals away early on and I can’t stress how excited we are as a group to see how we perform. They’ve really expanded their game. We all know about the power the South Africans have, but they have some subtleties with two really good outside halves and a scrum half who gives them energy. It is up to us to match it. We can’t get too loose out there. We’ve got to contain and control. The altitude will be tough, but it’s something most of us have experienced so it shouldn’t be a surprise. We’re excited to get back playing and it’s about staying in the fight. I experienced it last year with the Scarlets, when we had two different types of games. Against the Sharks we were in the fight until the end, but against the Bulls they blew us off the park early on. It’s important we stay in that fight and that gives us the best chance to get a positive result.”

Photo: Huw Fairclough/Getty Images

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Dylan Jack