The Lions have received a welcome boost with the return to fitness of Springbok fullback Quan Horn and outside centre Henco van Wyk for their overseas tour.
The Lions departed for Wales on Monday, where they will take on Cardiff in the URC this Friday.
Henco van Wyk of the Lions during the United Rugby Championship 2024/25 match between Emirates Lions and Stormers (Pic – Zondi/BackpagePix)
They will then head to Scotland for a clash with the defending URC champions, the Glasgow Warriors, which will be followed by a Challenge Cup last-16 clash against Edinburgh.
Despite the return of two key backline stars, it wasn’t all good news for the Gauteng outfit, as Bok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg was ruled out of the trip due to a thumb injury sustained against the Hollywoodbets Sharks earlier this month.
Head coach Ivan van Rooyen named a 28-man squad on Monday, which includes the return of flyhalf Kade Wolhuter and a first tour call-up for scrumhalf Layton Horn.
Speaking to the media ahead of their departure, 23-year-old loose forward Jarod Cairns said the team was ready for the challenge overseas and that there was an air of positivity in the camp following some good performance in the recent local URC derbies.
At the same time, the team is determined to improve by putting in full 80-minute performances after letting several leads slip in the closing stages of matches.
Lions touring squad
Forwards: PJ Botha, Jarod Cairns, Ruan Delport, Izan Esterhuizen, Francke Horn, SJ Kotze, Darrien Landsberg, Franco Marais, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, JC Pretorius, Sibabalo Qoma, Juan Schoeman, RF Schoeman, Ruben Schoeman, Conrad van Vuuren, Ruan Venter, Jaco Visagie.
Backs: Richard Kriel, Quan Horn, Layton Horn, Gianni Lombard, Marius Louw, Tapiwe Mafura, Manni Rass, Nico Steyn, Edwill van der Merwe, Henco van Wyk, Kade Wolhuter.
