Johannesburg — Well, what did you expect? Wholesale changes?
That would seem to have been deemed completely unnecessary by Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen after he revealed his matchday 23 for the Joburgers clash against Cardiff on Friday for their United Rugby Championship clash.
And who can blame him?
Emirates Lions Match 23 to face @Cardiff_Rugby this Friday.#LionsPride@Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/c1m02eUKEb
Indeed, confidence in one’s team is a wonderful thing; and having momentum to build upon that positive vibe even moreso. Van Rooyen will no doubt have been pleased by his team’s performance against Ospreys last week, regardless of how narrow the 28-27 triumph was; and it showed in his selections on Wednesday.
That means that the biggest question — that of the half-back pairing — has been emphatically answered for this weekend’s clash, with Sanele Nohamba (who was the man of the match against Ospreys) and Gianni Lombard rewarded for their previous deeds to retain their starting berths at scrumhalf and flyhalf, respectively.
It is still a young combination — one that has shown promise, but one that will still make errors in games to come. It is therefore of the utmost importance that if they are the preferred pairing this season, that they get in as much game time together.
Jordan Hendrikse, meanwhile, will continue to play off the bench and will hope for some action against Cardiff after keeping the bleachers warm throughout the full 80 minutes in the last match.
Consistency then, has won the day and Van Rooyen & Co will hope that the team can build on that winning feeling. In all, the Lions coach has made only two changes to his starting XV.
In the midfield Henco van Wyk returns to the starting line-up at outside centre and will partner with Marius Louw — who seems to now be the incumbent at No 12. Zander du Plessis, who started last week outside Louw, drops down to the bench to make an impact later in the encounter.
Up-front, meanwhile, Pieter Jansen van Vuren will make his first start of the season at lock, pairing up with captain Reinhard Nothnagel. There was much murmured excitement about Jansen Van Vuren’s move to the union last season before it ended abruptly due to injury, and his entry into the team could be an important development for the season ahead ... if he immediately hits his straps.
The only other change sees the exciting prospect that is Ruan Venter return to the matchday team after a slight niggle last weekend denied him an outing against Ospreys.
Cardiff will be a tough assignment: They are two from two after beating Munster in the opening round of the URC 20-13 and then demolishing Edinburgh 54-24 a week later.
Kickoff for the match is at 8.35pm.
Lions Starting XV: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (capt) 4 Pieter Jansen van Vuren 3 Ruan Dreyer2 PJ Botha1 Sti Sithole
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Ruhan Straeuli, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Zander du Plessis
IOL Sport