Commenting on his selections, Lions head coach Ivan 'Cash' van Rooyen: "It's an exciting new chapter for the Emirates Lions and we are really looking forward to our first match tomorrow against Zebre."

"The URC will test our character as a group but it's a challenge we are up for. We believe the match-23 we've decided upon will be competitive on the day and hopefully establish some momentum going into the next few weeks of the tournament," concluded van Rooyen.

Kick-off is at 18:35 (SA and ITA time) at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma.

Teams:

Zebre - TBA

Lions - 15 EW Viljoen,14 Jamba Ulengo,13 Wandisile Simelane,12 Burger Odendaal (c),11 Rabz Maxwane ,10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Pieter Jansen Van Vuren, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Ruan Dreyer

Replacements  - 16 PJ Botha, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Eddie Fouche, 23 Divan Rossouw.