Lions test new combos against Munster

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen has named his team to face Munster in the Round Seven clash of the United Rugby Championship.

Van Rooyen has gone with a new-look lock and centre combination following the match against Leinster in Round Six.

Ruben Schoeman partnered with Ruan Delport in the second row. In the midfield, Marius Louw leads the side alongside the explosive Henco van Wyk.

WJ Steenkamp is in line for his first appearance in Lions colours since signing with the Johannesburg side at the beginning of the season.

“We know that Munster are a quality team and are exceptional, especially in Limerick,” said Van Rooyen.

“They’ve shown most recently against the All Blacks XV what kind of quality they have.

“The change in their management set-up I’m sure will galvanise and bring their team together as they are a very proud, traditional European team,” he added.

The Lions mentor believes that Saturday’s outing at Thomond Park will probably be his side’s toughest test of the campaign so far.

“We know that it’s going to be really tough; it’s probably going to be the toughest game of the year for us so far. They would have felt unlucky to have lost that game against the All Blacks XV earlier this month.

“We go into Saturday with a fair bit of confidence but also the reality of what lies ahead.

“We need to be more clinical and disciplined in what we want to do and how we want to do it.

“That being said, there’s real excitement about the game after the two weeks of preparation we’ve had, so we are we are looking forward to it,” he concluded.

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (Captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 WJ Steenkamp, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 JC Pretorius, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Tapiwa Mafura, 23 Erich Cronje

Date: Saturday, November 30
Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-Off: 19.35 (19.35 GMT; 21.35 SA time)
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland), Padraic Reidy (Ireland)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)