The Lions have made a few changes to the team that lost to La Rochelle in their last match.
Lions captain Francke Horn is back in the starting team for their URC match against Edinburgh in Scotland. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
Lions captain Francke Horn returns from injury to lead the side in their United Rugby Championship (URC) match against Edinburgh at the DAM Health Stadium in Scotland on Friday night (kick-off 8:45pm), after a very emotional week.
The shocking sudden loss of Lions lock Hyron Andrews, who passed away at the team hotel last Friday before their first ever Champions Cup match against La Rochelle on Saturday, will have put many of the players in a very emotionally vulnerable place.
But they chose to play that game in his honour, and have had to immediately continue their overseas tour, with two matches in Scotland as they face Glasgow Warriors next week, before finally being able to return home.
Horn missed the brave loss against La Rochelle with an Achilles niggle, but slots straight back into the starting team at eighthman, which sees a shuffle in the loose trio as rising young talent Batho Hlekani also comes and will partner Sikhumuzo Notshe, who shifts from the back to the side of the scrum.
Springbok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg gets a well deserved break, after a busy couple of months with the Boks and now the Lions, with Nico Steyn starting at nine and young Zian Cilliers will provide cover off the bench.
Rest of team
The rest of the starting team remains the same from last week, while hooker PJ Botha comes into the match 23 and will look to provide impact off the bench, along with exciting loose forward Siba Mahashe.
Speaking ahead of the match Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys admitted that the team were navigating uncharted waters, and were hoping to pull together and continue honouring Andrews through their play.
“To say it was a rough week is probably an understatement, but the support we received from almost everyone was huge,” said Redelinghuys.
“The sorrow everyone felt, and the way it was handled, felt authentic. The way it was handled – locally, abroad, our leadership, coaches and management and players, felt really respectful and that gave us, to a big extent, some closure.”
Lions starting 15
Quan Horn, Kelly Mpeku, Henco van Wyk, Bronson Mills, Erich Cronje, Chris Smith, Nico Steyn, Francke Horn, Batho Hlekani, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Ruan Delport, Etienne Oosthuizen, Conraad van Vuuren, Morne Brandon, Boan Venter
Bench: PJ Botha, SJ Kotze, RF Schoeman, Dylan Sjoblom, Siba Mahashe, Ziaan Cilliers, Richard Kriel, Boeta Chamberlain
