Lions' Ruan Venter back for clash with Sharks, Darrien Landsberg to hit 50 caps at Ellis Park

The Lions have been boosted by the return of Springbok bruiser Ruan Venter for their rescheduled United Rugby Championship Round 8 fixture against the high-flying Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday (kick-off 2 pm).

It had been speculated all week that Venter would slot in at lock alongside Reinhard Nothnagel, but neither is in the second row; Venter starts on the flank, while Nothnagel is named on the bench.

Venter returns to the back row after serving a four-match suspension—a sanction he received against the same opposition on 3 January at Kings Park, where his team snatched a one-point victory in the dying minutes. The powerful No 7 slots in for the exciting Junior Springbok Batho Hlekani, who provides cover from the bench.

Another Junior Springbok, Siba Mahashe, earns his first starting opportunity after making his senior debut for the Lions in December. The Eastern Cape product will be in good company in a loose trio featuring Venter and skipper Francke Horn.

Prominent line-out jumper Darrien Landsberg runs out for his 50th appearance for the franchise on Saturday as he partners the vastly experienced Etienne Oosthuizen in the second row. Oosthuizen enjoyed a long tenure at the Sharks and will relish playing against his former team.

In the backline, winger Kelly Mpeku returns to the back three alongside Angelo Davids and Springbok fullback Quan Horn. Earlier this week, Lions assistant coach Wessel Roux praised his opponents’ recent dominance in local derbies.

“The Sharks pack is firing quite nicely. They’re brave and creative and were dominant in both games against the Stormers. They’re a world-class pack and a world-class team.”

Roux also emphasised the importance of focusing on the basics while showing up physically against the Durbanites.

“It’s a focus for us to get our fundamentals right and to try and get physical dominance because we know the Sharks are a big physical threat. It feels like a Test-match environment we’re having to prepare for,” he concluded.

Lions team for Sharks

15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ettienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze.

Bench: 16 Franco Marais, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Eddie Davids, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Erich Cronje.

* Mike Greenaway is the senior rugby reporter at Independent Media and senior contributor on our Last World on Rugby podcast on our YouTube channel, The Clutch