JC Pretorius is in line to make his Lions debut after being named in a 29-man squad for four matches abroad in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and European Challenge Cup.

Pretorius, a former Blitzboks star, has been training with The Pride following South Africa’s fourth-placed finish at the home leg of the 2022-23 World Sevens Series in December.

However, wing Rabz Maxwane and scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba join Sti Sithole, Ruan Dreyer, Reinhard Nothnagel and Francke Horn on the injury list after picking up knocks in the derby defeat against the DHL Stormers on New Year’s Eve.

The Joburgers face Munster in Limerick on Friday in the URC, followed by consecutive return legs against Stade Francais (14 January, France) and the Dragons (22 January, Wales) in the Challenge Cup.

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The Lions wrap up with a clash against Connacht at the Sportsground in Galway on 28 January in the URC.

“There’s still a tremendous amount of belief within the squad in terms of where we are currently in the process. We are under no illusion that it’s going be a tough tour, but we like touring,” head coach Ivan van Rooyen said.

“Going away together for four weeks on tour is a great opportunity for us to pull together, get consistency in our preparations and roll with the punches.”

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Full Lions tour squad:
Forwards (17): Ruan Smith, JP Smith, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Morgan Naude, PJ Botha, Michael van Vuuren, Rhynardt Reijnsburger, Willem Alberts, Emmanuel Tshituka, Emile van Heerden, Darrian Landsberg, Ruan Venter, Jarod Cairns, Sibusiso Sangweni, Jaco Kriel, Ruhan Straeuli, JC Pretorius.
Backs (12):  Morne van den Berg, Andre Warner, Jordan Hendrikse, Gianni Lombard, Marius Louw, Manuel Rass, Henco van Wyk, Rhynhardt Jonker, Edwill van der Merwe, Stean Pienaar, Quan Horn, Andries Coetzee.

Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter