Krappie reaches milestone as Boks return for Lions
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Lions brought in the big guns for their United Rugby Championship Round 13 clash against Edinburgh.
The Lions named four Springboks in Ruan Venter, Asenathi Ntlabakante, Quan Horn and Morné van den Berg – the latter will play his 100th game for the Johannesburg-based franchise.
Ntlabakanye is joined in the front row with PJ Botha at hooker and SJ Kotze on the loosehead side.
Etienne Oosthuizen and Darrien Landsberg continue their lock combination, whilst Venter is joined by Siba Mahashe as the flanks with captain Francke Horn at No.8.
Van den Berg partners with Chris Smith as the halfback combination.
Erich Cronje shifts from centres to wing with Bronson Mills and Henco van Wyk entrusted to do duty in midfield.
Head coach Ivan van Rooyen opted for a six-two bench split in favour of the forwards, with Haashim Pead and Richard Kriel the only backline replacements named.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Richard Kriel
Date: Saturday, March 21
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 14.45 (12.45 GMT)
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Stephen Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
