Flyhalf Kade Wolhuter has been included in Ivan van Rooyen’s starting XV as the Emirates Lions travel to the Aviva Stadium to face Leinster in Round 6 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
Not selected in the original tour squad due to injury, the talented playmaker joined the group for preparations and slots into the playmaker position against the Irish side.
Speaking from Dublin earlier this week, assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher believes a fast side for the men from Johannesburg will set the tone for a match that sees the only two unbeaten sides face off on Saturday.
“They like to put you under scoreboard pressure, so the important thing for us is to start well,” said Loubscher.
“You also can’t go into this match with the mindset of just keeping them out defensively,” he added.
“They’re good enough to score tries from everywhere.
“The important thing for us is to fire shots. We must go out and force our game onto them from an attack point of view,” the former Springbok concluded.
The Lions boast a new centre pairing which sees Rynhardt Jonker and Henco van Wyk combining on attack.
Amongst the forwards, tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye returns after a concussion he suffered against Dragons two weeks ago.
Kick-off in Dublin is at 18:15 (SA time)
Emirates Lions Match 23
- Juan Schoeman
- PJ Botha
- Asenathi Ntlabakanye
- Ruben Schoeman
- Reinhard Nothnagel
- JC Pretorius
- Jarod Cairns
- Francke Horn (c)
- Morne van den Berg
- Kade Wolhuter
- Edwill van der Merwe
- Rynhardt Jonker
- Henco van Wyk
- Richard Kriel
- Quan Horn
Replacements
- Franco Marais
- Heiko Pohlmann
- RF Schoeman
- Ruan Delport
- Renzo du Plessis
- Sanele Nohamba
- Marius Louw
- Erich Cronje
