A 50th cap for Lions prop
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Prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye gears up for his 50th international match for the Lions, as Ivan van Rooyen tweaks his lineup to face the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Sunday.
The Lions kick off a three-match tour to Europe in the round 4 Vodacom URC clash in Newport. Head coach Van Rooyen has made two changes from the team that beat Edinburgh at Ellis Park last week.
Franco Marais starts at hooker while Nico Steyn, a regular feature at scrumhalf, gets an opportunity at flyhalf in palce of the injured Kade Wolhuter.
Speaking in the buildup to this week’s match, assistant coach Barend Pieterse said the Pride are pleased with the momentum the unbeaten side has heading abroad.
“We are really happy with where we are at the moment as a group. It’s always a nice feeling coming on tour with 10 points in the bag,” he explained.
“We will, however, need to maintain that momentum as we really believe we can become a championship team.
“This is the tour we believe we can collect our points to make it easier towards the end of the season without relying on other teams to get us into a playoff position.”
50 caps for Asenathi. Look at that smile... Here's our Match 23 to face Dragons on Sunday.
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) October 11, 2024
🆚 @dragonsrfc
🗓: Sun, 13 Oct
⏰: 15H30
🏟 : Rodney Parade
🏆: @URCOfficial_RSA@vodacom #URC | #HitsDifferent
#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/kKeVkVpJ5u