Johannesburg – Fan favourite Jaco Kriel will finally make his debut in this United Rugby Championship season for the Emirates Lions against Scarlets this weekend, it was revealed in their team announcement on Friday.
The Springbok flank will start at the side of the scrum on Sunday at Emirates Airline Park (kick-off 1.30pm), packing down alongside a reshuffled loose-trio that will also see the debut of Darrien-Lane Landsberg. Kriel has endured several weeks on the sideline due to a serious leg injury, but has seemingly recovered in the nick of time.
An injury sustained to Francke Horn during the opening minutes against Dragons last week sees the eightman drop out of the matchday 23 for this weekend’s clash. Emmanuel Tshituka, who has been preferred at flank, will slip on the No 8 jumper in his stead.
Meanwhile, the burly Ruan Venter also returns to the side on the bench, and will no doubt act as cover for the lock-pairing of Ruben Schoeman and captain Reinhard Nothnagel.
Other than those tweaks to the line-up, head coach Ivan van Rooyen has remained consistent in his selection, and will rely on the team that defeated Dragons to continue building momentum against Scarlets.
“We know Scarlets are a team who enjoy attacking and keeping the ball in play,”,” Van Rooyen said via statement.
“If you look at their game against the DHL Stormers last week, the last 15-20 minutes featured plenty attack from them which puts teams under huge defensive pressure.
Your Emirates Lions team taking the field on Sunday against Scarlets in Round 9 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
🆚 Scarlets
🏆 : @URCOfficial_RSA
🗓 : Sun, 4 Dec
⏰ : 13:30
🎟 : https://t.co/4HbIbtZvab#LionsPride🦁@Vodacom | #URC | #UnitedWeRise pic.twitter.com/sr5lVFMO7X— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) December 2, 2022
“Reflecting on our fixture against them last year, we learnt huge defensive lessons and it’s something we’ve taken stock of ahead of Sunday,” he added.
Van Rooyen has challenged his troops to explore attacking options rather than to defend for long periods.
“It’s important for us not to sit back and try to defend their attacking game but also see how our attacking game can put them under pressure. They are a team that keeps the ball in play, so I think it will be a great running spectacle on Sunday, which will be great for fans,” he concluded.
Emirates Lions starting XV: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Darrien Landsberg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (capt), 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlanakanye, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner 22, Gianni Lombard, 23 Zander du Plessis
@FreemanZAR
