Advertisement
Lions head to Durban without Marx, Whiteley
Kwagga Smith will lead the Lions after Malcolm Marx, who captained the team to the win over the Highlanders, is rested as per the agreement with the national team, while regular captain Warren Whiteley still hasn’t recovered from his bone bruise that kept him out of the Highlanders game.
Ross Cronje will also miss the game, with the halfback undergoing what the Lions have termed “a small procedural operation that will keep him out of action for a week.”
This means the Lions will head to Durban with a weakened side in their hopes to overturn the big loss they suffered to the Sharks at home last month and will be relying on their team system to try and win them their first derby game of the year.
Jan-Henning Campher, who was previously at the Bulls before joining the Lions earlier this year, gets his first start since joining the team, and will fill the spot left by Marx.
Nic Groom will fill in for Cronje, with no scrumhalf replacement on the bench.
• Meanwhile the Lions have confirmed that prop Dylan Smith and loose-forward Vincent Tshituka have both extended their contracts with the union until 2021.
“Both are local players with Smith having matriculated at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg and Tshituka a former learner of Northcliff High. Smith represented the Lions at Craven Week in 2011 and 2012 and a year later represented the union at Under 19 level,” a team statement said.
“The flanker Tshituka only started playing rugby in grade eight at wing. He moved to flank in grade 10 and went on to represent the Lions Academy side in 2016.
Emirates : Andries Coetzee; Courtnall Skosan, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Aphiwe Dyantyi; Elton Jantjies, Nic Groom; Kwagga Smith©, Cyle Brink, Marnus Schoeman, Marvin Orie, Stephan Lewies, Johannes Jonker, Jan-Henning Campher, Dylan Smith. Reserves: Pieter Jansen, Sti Sithole, Carlu Sadie, Reinhard Nothnagel, Vincent Tshituka, Hacjivah Dayimani, Shaun Reynolds, Tyrone Green.
Advertisement