Rugby
The Lions rotate for Cheetahs clash─── 09:30 Fri, 22 May 2015
The Lions named their side to tackle the Toyota Cheetahs on Saturday in Bloemfontein in the Super Rugby, and will feature a host of former Cheetahs.
The second-row will see former Cheetahs locks Andries Ferreira and Martin Muller take to the field with coach Johan Ackermann rotating his squad.
The midfielder will be patrolled by another set of former Cheetahs with Howard Mnesi getting a start alongside Lionel Mapoe, while Courtnall Skosan starts on the wing.
The in-form Elton Jantjies once again cracked the nod at flyhalf, while Andries Coetzee starts at fullback.
This leaves no place in the side for Springbok flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff who will be doing Vodacom Cup duty in the Golden Lions semi-final against the Pumas in Johannesburg tonight.
Ackermann insists that Bossie isn’t being left in the wilderness by the team.
“Marnitz is still important for us and he knows that. He still has a big role to play for us, he will still get his opportunity and we believe in his potential. The fact is, to us at this stage, we feel that Jaco is a little bit more comfortable at 15, but Bossie has spoken to us and told us he is also comfortable there. We will obviously look at that differently from now on,” said the former Springbok lock.
“Bossie is a match winner and we definitely haven’t chucked him away. Elton is in good form at the moment and it is definitely good for us to give Jaco the exposure because we will need him in the Currie Cup when Elton is not here. Bossie will get enough time to be important as well," Ackermann added.
Captain Warren Whiteley who is in serious contention for a World Cup spot this year is of the view that even if they have beaten the Cheetahs and despite their log position, the men in orange will be no walk in the park.
"They are an unpredictable side and we know when they click they are a dangerous side, we saw that when we played against them and they played great rugby," said Whiteley.
"It is really important for us first and foremost to focus for 80 minutes and that is one of our games the last couple of weeks. It is important to play the right type of rugby they are a dangerous side on turnover ball and they’ve got some explosive runners at the back," the inspirational captain added.
Tomorrow evenings match at the Free State Stadium kicks off at 17:05.
Cheetahs - 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Boom Prinsloo, 6 Carel Greeff, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Danie Minnie.
Replacements - 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 BG Uys, 18 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Coenie van Wyk, 23 Rayno Benjamin.
Lions - 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements - 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Robert Kruger, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Harold Vorster.
Morgan Piek / OFM News
