STARTS FOR OOSTHUIZEN, DU PLESSIS WHILE MAFURA RETURNS FOR LIONS KIMBERLEY TRIP

The Fidelity ADT Lions travel to Kimberley this weekend ahead of their Round 5 clash against the Suzuki Griquas. Kick off at the Suzuki Stadium on Sunday is at 15:00.

Head Coach Mziwakhe has made a combination of five changes to his starting XV after his side went down 22-35 to the Hollywoodbets Sharks last week in Johannesburg. The Lions Currie Cup mentor says they are keen to making amends for his side’s performance last week at home by steadily getting back to the winning ways.

Lock Etienne Oosthuizen starts alongside Raynard Roets while Renzo du Plessis forms a formidable second row consisting of Jarod Cairns- who moves to seven flank, with Ruhan Straeuli pushing behind the scrum.

Fresh from international duty for his home country of Zimbabwe, wing Tapiwa Mafura occupies the left wing with Boldwin Hansen on the right. A positional switch for Kelly Mpeku at outside centre for the injured Manuel Rass. The bench sees the return of Darrien Landsberg from a calf strain.

“We’re excited for the trip to Kimberly. We are looking forward to making amends for our performance and result from last week and hopefully get back to winning ways,” said Nkosi.

“It’s important that we put in a quality performance to obtain a good result. We were thorough in our review and were able to point out aspects of our game that let us down.”

“We look forward to going up against an ably prepared Griquas team who kept us on our toes here at home two weeks ago, so there’s no doubt it will be a good game for everyone. We are intent on making sure that collectively we keep fighting for this campaign,” he concluded.

Fidelity ADT Lions 23

1.           Morgan Naude

2.           Jaco Visagie (c)

3.           Conrad van Vuuren

4.           Etienne Oosthuizen

5.           Raynard Roets

6.           Renzo du Plessis

7.           Jarod Cairns

8.           Ruhan Straeuli

9.           Nico Steyn

10.         Sam Francis

11.         Tapiwa Mafura

12.         Rynhardt Jonker

13.         Kelly Mpeku

14.         Boldwin Hansen

15.         Gianni Lombard

Replacements

16.         Morne Brandon

17.         SJ Kotze

18.         RF Schoeman

19.         Tiaan Wessels

20.         Darrien Landsberg

21.         Luca Ribbens

22.         Layton Horn

23.         Zander du Plessis

Fidelity ADT Lions 2024 Currie Fixtures:

10 August 2024- Airlink Pumas (H)

17 August 2024- DHL Western Province (H)

24 August 2024- Toyota Cheetahs (A)

30 August 2024- Vodacom Bulls (A)

6 September 2024- Novavit Griffons (H)