Emirates Lions eighthman Francke Horn hits a milestone, running out for his 50th match on Saturday when he takes the field for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against log leaders Leinster.
Horne, who has risen as one of the key players for the Lions, especially in the wider trams and has a potent try-scoring record for the side.
The Lions need a victory to ensure they still have hopes of a top eight finish and with Leinster bringing a strong, albeit second-string squad to Johannesburg, they will see their chance.
🔥 Here you go Joburg, these are your guys to do the job tomorrow. Let's ROAR them into the Top 8. See you guys at 15:00. 🏟🙌
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) April 19, 2024
🆚 @leinsterrugby
🗓: Sat, 20 Apr
⏰: 15:00
🎟: https://t.co/yheM4D42xr
🏟 : Emirates Airline Park#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/JgueMuMjcY
Willem Alberts and Ruan Delport combine in the engine room while the rest of the team is basically their strongest available line-up
Morgan Naude and Ruan Dreyer move back into the front row while Asenathi Ntlabakanye returns from suspension to take his place on the bench Sibusiso Sangweni makes an appearance after a long absence as cover fro Hanru Sirgel, who has concussion.
Henco van Wyk returns from injury to the bench alongside Jordan Hendrikse and Nico Steyn as the backline replacements.
“We were disappointing against Ospreys and Benetton but we are back home now and we needed to reset ourselves. There are no second chances and making the top eight is non-negotiable,” defence coach Jaque Fourie said.
“To do that we need to win all our home games and we need consistency – in terms of how we want to play and what our brand is – we need to get that right every week.
Fourie went on to say that his side are not really concerned about which side Leinster fields on the day amid speculation that the Irish outfit travelled to South Africa with their second stringers.
“They will be well prepared and whichever team they field will be a big challenge for us,” he said.
“If you have a look at the game we played last season, I think with 10 minutes to go we were still ahead and the second-string guys that they brought just came back and won that game,” said Fourie.
“They have such good depth in their squad, so it doesn’t matter what team they bring. Most of their second-string guys would walk into any other first team in this competition. So the squad they have got is really strong,” concluded.
Kick-off is at 15:00.
Team: Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Marius Louw (captain), Edwill van der Merwe; Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg; Francke Horn, Emmanuel Tshituka, JC Pretorius, Ruan Delport, Willem Alberts, Ruan Dreyer, PJ Botha, Morgan Naude.
Replacements: Jaco Visagie, JP Smith, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Reinhard Nothnagel, Sibusiso Sangweni, Nico Steyn, Jordan Hendrikse, Henco van Wyk