Alberts and Sadie the surprise picks as Lions get ready to roar

The Lions have bulked up their forward pack with the inclusion of big Willem Alberts at lock and Carlu Sadie at tighthead prop for their Super Rugby Unlocked opener against the Sharks in Durban on Friday night.

And, Lions coach Cash van Rooyen surprised by naming 10 players on his bench instead of the usual eight with a final decision on the makeup of the personnel to be made closer to kickoff this weekend.

“We hope that Willem will bring a physical edge against a very good and abrasive Sharks pack,” said Van Rooyen about the big Alberts, who normally plays on the blindside flank.

Young Sadie will start in the No 3 jersey ahead of the more accomplished Ruan Dreyer, who returned to the Lions from Gloucester during lockdown, and veteran Jannie du Plessis, who misses out on the matchday squad completely.

“Carlu was very impressive in Cape Town (in the Green versus Gold match), while Ruan is coming back from a serious Achilles heel injury,” explained Van Rooyen, who added losing 13 players to the Springbok Showdown match in Cape Town last week had disrupted preparations somewhat.

“There’s always challenges, like what happened last week, with 13 guys not being here, but the nice thing is that we embrace those challenges, like we did on Monday when a big thunderstorm forced us to cancel our training session,” he said.

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Van Rooyen though said he was happy and confident his team had done enough work going into this weekend’s opening round fixture of the new-look competition.

“The last two to three weeks went really well and we’re confident. I think the players understand what we want to achieve,” he said. “This is just a massive opportunity on Friday night after six or seven months of no-rugby.”

Another slight surprise selection made by Van Rooyen is at loosehead prop where Sti Sithole has been picked ahead of Dylan Smith, who is set to make his impact from the bench later in the game.

Van Rooyen though indicated he’d decided to mix-and-match his players after many had been involved in last week’s action in the Cape.

Hooker Jaco Visagie, wing Rabz Maxwane, centre Burger Odendaal and fullback EW Viljoen will make their first appearances for the Lions at this level. The foursome joined the Lions in July during lockdown and have all been in action in the warm-up matches on Super Fan Saturday and against the Pumas last Friday where the Lions won 33-5.

On the bench, the former Sharks and Bulls prop Wiehahn Herbst will be readying himself for his first taste of Lions rugby.

Four members of the starting line-up, Sadie, lock Marvin Orie, flank Vincent Tshituka and flyhalf and captain Elton Jantjies, were in action in the Green and Gold match in Cape Town. Four more featured in that game in Smith, fullback Gianni Lombard, centre Wandisile Simelane and prop Ruan Dreyer, but against the Sharks will feature on the bench.

Lions: EW Viljoen, Jamba Ulengo, Burger Odendaal, Dan Kriel, Rabz Maxwane, Elton Jantjies (capt), Dillon Smit, Len Massyn, Vincent Tshituka, Jaco Kriel, Marvin Orie, Willem Alberts, Carlu Sadie, Jaco Visagie, Sti Sithole. Bench: Jan-Henning Campher, Dylan Smith, Wiehahn Herbst, Wilhelm van der Sluys, MJ Pelser, Hacjivah Dayimani, Morné van den Berg, Gianni Lombard, Wandisile Simelane, Ruan Dreyer.

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