Advertisement

Fifty up for Van Wyk as Lions bring back trio of Boks

rugby22 January 2026 12:01
By:Brenden Nel
Share
article image
Emirates Lions © Gallo Images

Top Lions midfielder Henco van Wyk will run on for his 50th cap for the Johannesburg side as coach Ivan van Rooyen brought back several big guns ahead of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash against Ospreys on Friday night.

Van Wyk, who has had several injury setbacks over the past few years, has always only played for the Lions, and was close to Springbok selection at one stage, having been selected for SA A squad that toured Europe a few seasons ago.

Advertisement

The milestone comes as the Lions look to focus now on the URC after being dumped out of the EPCR Challenge Cup and against the backdrop of chaos in Wales. The Ospreys have all but been served notice that they may not exist next season with the Welsh Rugby Union planning to cut their sides from four to three and it seems the Ospreys will be the unlucky franchise.

It got so bad this week that a heated meeting with club management saw the players ditch training as anger spilt over about the decision and it is anyone’s guess how this will affect their game on Friday night.

Nevertheless, Van Rooyen has brought back a trio of Springboks into the side, with Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Morne van den Berg and Quan Horn returning to the starting line-up after missing the game against Perpignan.

Ruben Schoeman and Etienne Oosthuizen swap places in the starting line-up with the latter dropping to the bench while the Lions will be captained by Francke Horn once again.

Lions: Quan Horn; Angelo Davids, Henco van Wyk, Bronson Mills, Richard Kriel; Chris Smith, Morne van den Berg; Francke Horn (captain), Batho Hlekani, Renzo du Plessis, Reinhardt Nothnagel, Ruben Schoeman, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, PJ Botha, SJ Kotze.

Replacements: Morne Brandon, RF Schoeman, Conraad van Vuuren, Etienne Oosthuizen, Darrien Landsberg, Jarod Cairns, Haashim Pead, Erich Cronje.

Advertisement