Francke Horn leads Lions against Pumas, Straeuli Jnr set for debut
No 8 Francke Horn will captain the Lions in their Currie Cup opener against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday evening.
Lions head coach, Ivan van Rooyen, has picked a side filled with experience and youth.
Exciting youngsters like Morne Brandon, Banele Mthenjane, Ruhan Straeuli, Emmanuel Tshituka and Aidynn Cupido will all look to make their debuts from the bench.
Ruhan Straeuli is the son of former Springbok loose forward Rudolf Straeuli, who is the current CEO of the Lions Rugby Company.
"We look forward to an exciting Currie Cup season, where we will play matches with very short turn-around times. Our next match will already be on Wednesday, 23 June at Emirates Airline Park when we will host Western Province," Straeuli Snr said in a statement.
Friday's match at Mbombela Stadium kicks off at 19:00.
Teams:
Pumas
TBA
Lions
15 EW Viljoen, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Nathan McBeth
Substitutes: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Banele Mthenjane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruhan Straeuli, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Aidynn Cupido, 23 Duncan Matthews