Willem Alberts will play his first competitive match in eight months when the Emirates Lions face Irish giants Ulster in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The 43-Test Springbok has returned after being stretchered off with a knee injury in a URC loss to the Vodacom Bulls in February. Dubbed the ‘Bone Collector’, Alberts returns to combine with captain Reinhard Nothnagel in the second row, with Pieter Jansen van Vuren dropping to the bench.
In other changes, Jaco Visagie and Emmanuel Tshituka start at hooker and openside flank, respectively, trading places on the wood with PJ Botha and Sibusiso Sangweni.
Among the backs, Stean Pienaar is dropped for speedster Edwill van der Merwe, who returns on the wing after serving his mandatory concussion protocol post the win over Cardiff two weeks ago.
The Lions returned home on the back of a three-match unbeaten tour to Wales and Scotland, but Nothnagel cautions that the Joburgers cannot become complacent or underestimate their opposition.
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“Ulster is a top side and has a good track record in the competition. It will certainly be a challenging encounter for us. In saying that, they are a team who tour very well, so that’s something we are taking into consideration as well,” he said.
“As a team we are quite confident, especially coming off what we believe was a successful tour. One of the biggest learnings for us as a team is that you must expect anything from any team in this campaign.
“We look forward to playing at the Park again in front of our home fans on Saturday for what is going to be a great day of rugby.”
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 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (c), 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 JP Smith.
Subs: 16 PJ Botha, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Zander du Plessis.
