Injuries force Van Rooyen's hand for Pau clash
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen has opted to rotate his squad for their Round Two Challenge Cup clash against Pau.
Centre Marius Louw will lead the Lions in their final home game of 2024 but will be without his usual centre partner Henco van Wyk, who picked up a training injury this week.
In the Bok prospect’s absence, Erich Cronjé – who started in last week’s loss to the Ospreys – will partner the captain in the midfield.
Along with Van Wyk, fullback Quan Horn will also miss the match due to a training niggle.
Resultantly, Tapiwa Mafura retains the No.15 jersey for the clash.
Amongst the forwards, WJ Steenkamp retains his spot after an impressive shift against the Ospreys. Jarod Cairns and Francke Horn complete the back row.
Ruan Venter and Siba Qoma remain on the sidelines until the New Year.
Lions: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horne, 7 WJ Steenkamp, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 JC Pretorius, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Manny Rass.
Date: Saturday, December 14
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17.15 (15.15 GMT)
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson, John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards
