The Emirates Lions have received a massive setback ahead of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship return game against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban this weekend, losing two key loose forwards for the match.
Springbok Ruan Venter and Springbok Sevens star JC Pretorius have both been ruled out of the clash, leaving the Lions to rejig their loose trio ahead of the Durban game.
With the Lions having won both last season’s derbies and last week’s game in Johannesburg, they will be hoping for a similar performance against the star-studded Sharks side to give their top eight hopes a boost.
The Lions are currently ninth on the log, and a win will very much catapult them into the top eight, with a tough tour ahead of them after next week’s one week break in the URC programme.
Venter has to be stood down after taking a head knock last week and is undergoing the return to play protocols, while Pretorius suffered a hamstring injury in training this week and is waiting for the medical team to give him a time frame for his return.
Venter is said to be ready in two weeks time for the tour, but Pretorius, who has been key to the Lions this season and has made the most turnovers in the URC competition, is a massive loss for the side.
The former Sevens star’s pilfering ability is huge and will be missed in Durban this weekend. In his place Jarod Cairns has stepped up, while Siba Qoma, who was on the bench last week, comes into the starting line-up for Venter.
Elsewhere the starting line-up is the same that won last weekend, with the exception of the bench, where the Lions have put in a whole new front row.
Franco Marais - a former Shark - returns to the bench alongside Morgan Naude and Conraad van Vuuren as the Lions continue to swap their bench front row to try and increase depth. Also on the bench is Izan Esterhuizen, Nico Steyn and WJ Steenkamp as the Lions look to some fresh legs to carry them through in Durban.
The team was already rocked last week by the loss of Quan Horn and Henco van Wyk - both with injuries that the Lions haven’t clarified - as well as lock Etienne Oosthuizen.
Their injury list is longer as well, and includes midfielder Erich Cronje, lock Reinhard Nothnagel and winger Rabz Maxwane.
Emirates Lions: Tapiwa Mafura; Richard Kriel, Mannie Rass, Marius Louw, Edwill van der Merwe; Gianni Lombard, Morne van den Berg; Francke Horn (captain), Siba Qoma, Jarod Cairns, Darrien Landsberg, Ruben Schoeman, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, PJ Botha, Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: Franco Marais, Morgan Naude, Conrad van Vuuren, Ruan Delport, Izan Esterhuizen, Nico Steyn, WJ Steenkamp, Rynhardt Jonker.