Lions name 33-man squad for URC

The Lions have announced a 33-man squad for the upcoming United Rugby Championship.  

The Johannesburg-based side face the Italian outfit of Zebre in their opening clash and head coach Ivan van Rooyen seems optimistic about his team’s chances. 

 “As a coaching unit, we’ve been fortunate enough to have time to discuss and plan how we want to approach the URC,” he said. “This was coupled with a few on-field sessions before settling on a final 33. 

“We expect conditions to be challenging up north but at the same time looking forward to competing and establishing ourselves as the competition progresses.” 

The squad: 

Forwards (19): PJ Botha, Morne Brandon, Ruan Dreyer, Jannie Du Plessis, Francke Horn, Pieter Jansen van Vuren, Jaco Kriel Morgan Naude, Reinhard Nothnagel, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Carlu Sadie, Sibusiso Sangweni, Ruben Schoeman, Sti Sithole, Ruhan Straeuli, Emmanuel Tshituka, Vincent Tshituka, Wilhelm van der Sluys and Jaco Visagie. 

Backs (14): Eddie Fouche, Jordan Hendrikse, Sibahle ‘Rabz’ Maxwane, Matt More, Burger Odendaal, Stean Pienaar, Manuel Rass, Divan Rossouw, Wandisile Simelane, Ginter Smuts, Jamba Ulengo, Morne Van den Berg, EW Viljoen and Andre Warner. 

The Springbok duo of Ross Cronje and Willem Alberts were not considered due to injury.