Dobela back as Lions head to the Lowveld

The Fidelity ADT Lions have brought back Springbok training squad member Renzo du Plessis to their starting line-up as one of three changes to the team that lost to Boland for their Carling Currie Cup match against the Airlink Pumas in Nelspruit on Saturday.

Du Plessis, who was on the fringes of the Bok squad, will bolster the team, replacing WJ Steenkamp, who drops to the bench for the clash.

Flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela also returns at flyhalf in the place of Kade Wolhuter while lock Ruben Schoeman comes into the side for his first Currie Cup start of the season.

On the bench Sam Francis and Tapiwa Mafura make their appearance alongside new signing Sebastian Lombard.

Coach Mziwakhe Nkosi wasn’t happy with the performance in the loss against Boland and said the team wanted to make amends.

“Last week’s result against Boland was not one that we wanted and certainly not a performance that we are proud of,” said Nkosi.

“We have got to make amends in terms of performance, and we hope that if we do that, the result will go our way. We feel we let ourselves down in many aspects last week and it’s for us to give a positive response this weekend against Pumas.”

Nkosi identified the Lowvelder’s set piece execution as a threat and one they are hoping to counter against come Saturday.

“We are very much aware of what we’ll be up against in terms of set piece against the Pumas, especially looking at what they did against the Bulls last week. We are under no illusions as to the type of set piece we are going to face as it was an effective tool for them and no doubt, they’ll be looking to employ that again on Saturday,” he warned.

Kick-off at the Nelspruit Rugby Club is at 2pm and the match will be live on SuperSport

FIDELITY ADT LIONS: Gianni Lombard; Angelo Davids, Mannie Rass, Rynhardt Jonker, Kelly Mpeku; Lubabalo Dobela, Nico Steyn; Jarod Cairns, Siba Qoma, Renzo du Plessis, Ruben Schoeman, Dylan Sjoblom, RF Schoeman, Jaco Visagie (captain), SJ Kotze.

REPLACEMENTS: Morne Brandon, Juan Schoeman, Sebastian Lombard, Johnre Stopforth, WJ Steenkamp, Layton Horn, Sam Francis, Tapiwa Mafura