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Lions out to keep clean slate against Zebre

By Annemie Bester
Thursday 23 Nov 2023

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Lions host Zebre at home at Ellis Park this weekend and will be out to keep their record intact having not lost a game against the Italians.

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Head coach Ivan van Rooyen has promoted JP Smith, Ruan Delport and Ruan Venter to the starting line-up for this clash while Morne van den Berg and Sanele Nohamba continue their halfback partnership.

In April this year the Lions beat Zebre 50-35 at home and in 2021 the Johannesburg side recorded a 38-26 victory in Parma.

Wing Richard Kriel faces the team he played for last season.

Zebre is currently 10th on the URC log while the Lions remain in 13th spot after their narrow loss against Ulster last weekend.

However the Lions have been very unfortunate at times and have yet to be well beaten with the biggest defeat being seven points.

Their sole win to date came a fortnight ago when they snatched a last-minute win against Scarlets by 24-23, a game that saw the emergence of Nohamba at ten with a man of the match performance.

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Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Ruan Delport, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Rabz Maxwane

Date: Saturday, November 25
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 14.55 (13.55 Italian time; 12.55 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans
Assistant Referees: Morne Ferreira, Paul Mente
TMO: Sean Brickell

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