LIONS U20 READY FOR FINAL CHALLENGE

Lions U20 coaches Wessel Roux and Mziwakhe Nkosi believe their side is extremely upbeat ahead of Saturday’s clash against Western Province U20 at Emirates Airline Park in the SA Rugby U20 Cup final.

Roux and Nkosi are confident that the Lions youngsters have what it takes to go all the way.

"The boys are quite excited for the final. As you can imagine, it’s quite the occasion for them and its due reward for the work they have put in over the season," says Nkosi.

The two teams played to a 24-24 draw when they met in Round 5 of the competition, but Roux believes the approach won't change too much.

"Our approach will not be too different. Obviously, they have grown as a team as well, and there is just a bigger onus on us to execute our plans better this time round after we let them off the hook in the league phase," explains Roux.

A new addition to Saturday's encounter will be the introduction of crowds at the stadium since the announcement by SA Rugby that fully vaccinated fans will be allowed to club and professional matches. Both coaches believe this will be a boost for their young troops as they aim to lift local junior rugby's premier silverware.

"It is going to be somewhat interesting as the players have not played in front of crowds in a while, so hopefully they can give our team that extra push in the game."

Kick-off is at 13:00. The match will be streamed on the Supersport Schools app and available on DSTV NOW.

Lions U20

15 Quan Horn, 14 Ngia Selengbe , 13 Johann "Henco" van Wyk, 12 Tyler Bocks (c), 11 Boldwin Hansen, 10 Jurich Claasens, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Izak "Izan" Esterhuizen, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Conor van Buuren, 4 Babalo Makana, 3 Sibusiso Shongwe, 2 Jacque-Lois du Toit, 1 Heiko Pohlmann.

Replacements

16 Allister Williams, 17 Okuhle Siyeni, 18 Jacobus "Kabous" Bezuidenhout, 19 Justin Kalamer, 20 Sisonke Vumazonke, 21 Sihlalo Benge, 22 Setshaba Mokoena, 23 Indiphile Tyeda, 24 Josh Jonas, 25 Joshua van Vreden

26 Prince Mulea.

Western Province U20

15 Jacques Rossouw, 14 Ebenezer Tshimanga, 13 Ethan James, 12 Ruben Labuschagne, 11 Rethabile Louw, 10 Sacha Mngomezulu, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Jarrod Taylor, 7 Simon Miller, 6 Romauld Ntumba, 5 Dylan De Leeuw (captain), 4 Connor Evans, 3 Corne Weilbach, 2 Keagan Blanckenberg, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger.

Replacements

16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Vernon Matongo, 19 Marco van Rhyn, 20 Armand Maritz, 21 Conwill Conradie, 22 Meyr Retief, 23 Duran Koevort, 24 Liam Kloosman, 25 Cade Croy, 26 Christian Lamprecht.