Mahuza leads young Lions outfit against Bulls
Johannesburg – Fullback Sylvian Mahuza will captain a young Lions side when they tackle the Bulls in a pre-season friendly at Loftus Versfeld’s B field on Saturday (15:00 kick-off).
Mahuza, with 31 Super Rugby caps, is the most experienced player in the Lions squad travelling to Pretoria.
The Lions squad features eight Junior Springboks who played in last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship. They are Manuel Rass, Tyrone Green, Wandisile Simelane, Gianni Lombard, Ruan Vermaak, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, JP Steenkamp and Louritz van der Schyff
The Lions, who have been Super Rugby runners-up for three seasons running, will also be in action against the Sharks in the first game of a double header at Cape Town Stadium on February 3.
On the same day, the Stormers play the Bulls in what will be the first public appearance of the new-look superhero jerseys, which will serve as the strips for the South African derbies in this year’s Super Rugby competition.
The 2019 Super Rugby competition starts on the weekend of February 15/16.
Teams:
Bulls
15 Earll Dowrie, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Franco Naude, 12 JT Jackson, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Muller Uys, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Ruan Steenkamp. 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Ruan Nortje, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Corniel Els, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima
Substitutes: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Matthys Basson, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Tim Agaba, 20 Nic de Jager, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Jay-Cee Nel, 24 Jade Stighling, 25 Divan Rossouw.
Lions
15 Sylvian Mahuza (captain), 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Tyrone Green, 11 Wandisile Simelane, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morné van der Berg, 8 Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 MJ Pelser, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jan-Henning Champher, 1 Nathan McBeth
Substitutes: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Danie Minnie, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19 PJ Steenkamp, 20 Roelof Smith, 21 James Venter, 22 Jo-Hanko de Villiers, 23 Dian Schoonees, 24 Bradley Thain, 25 Eddie Fouche, 26 Louritz van der Schyff, 27 Jan-Louis la Grange, 28 Stean Pienaar, 29 Jean-Luc Cilliers
