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Lions' kingpin starts in Currie Cup Final

By @rugby365com
Friday 20 Sep 2024

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Lions coach Mziwakhe Nkosi made one change to his starting XV for the Currie Cup Final against the Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday.

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The Highvelders will attempt to lift the famous gold trophy for the first time since 2015 when they defeated Western Province in the Lions’ Den, but they also appeared in the 2019 decider, where they lost a cliffhanger to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

Sanele Nohamba starts at flyhalf ahead of Kade Wolhuter. The diminutive pivot will be responsible for steering the side’s attack after an impressive cameo in last week’s semifinal against the Cheetahs.

The Johannesburg franchise has maintained a fairly consistent line-up throughout the campaign under the captaincy of Jaco Visagie, with a number of young players grabbing their opportunities at this level.

Lions tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakanye, who scored perhaps one of the standout tries of the competition last Saturday, believes his side needs to be more accurate on execution against a Sharks side who will be beaming with confidence after their 100-minute marathon match against the Bulls at Loftus last weekend.

Our set piece was below par last week so that’s something we need to work on, Ntlabakanye said.

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“If you look at last week’s semi-final, we scored tries but conceded easy points immediately after that.

“So those are the things we have been working hard on this week in our preparations. All in all, we look forward to Saturday as both players and the fans come out to support the team,” he concluded.

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Rynhardt Jonker, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Tapiwa Mafura, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naude.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Siba Qoma, 20 Raynard Roets, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Kelly Mpeku

Date: Saturday, September 21
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 16.00 (14.00 GMT)
Referee: Morné Ferreira
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Egon Seconds

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