Livewire flank Jaco Kriel will lead the Lions against the Sharks in their only Currie Cup warm-up game on Friday.
Overlooked by national coach Heyneke Meyer, Kriel is set to take charge of the team during the competition. Regular captain Warren Whiteley was expected to spend the next few weeks with the Springboks, but the hard-working No8 broke his ribs against New Zealand at the weekend and will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
The other Lions players who’re part of the Bok squad – Faf de Klerk, Elton Jantjies, Franco Mostert and Lionel Mapoe – will only feature once the competition proper gets underway, from next weekend. Jantjies though, should he not make the World Cup cut, will head back to Japan before returning for Super Rugby next year.
With the experienced Derick Minnie out of the game for the rest of the year because of a knee injury, coach Johan Ackermann has opted to hand the leadership role to the inspirational Kriel.
Besides Minnie, the other Lions players not considered for the trip to Pietermaritzburg on Friday are hooker Robbie Coetzee, who has a hamstring injury, and fullback Andries Coetzee, who’s nursing a foot problem which will see him sidelined for most of the competition.
Warwick Tecklenburg will not play in the Currie Cup this season. The 28-year-old is on a short-term contract with the Japanese side, Kamaishi Seawaves.
Meanwhile, the Sharks have announced lock Pieter-Steph du Toit will feature against the Lions on Friday.
LIONS Squad
Jaco van der Walt, Ruan Combrinck, Vainon Willis, Anthony Volminck, Courtnal Skosan, Sampie Mastriet, Harold Vorster, Howard Mnisi, Alwyn Hollenbach, Jacques Nel, Stokkies Hanekom, Marnitz Boshoff, Ross Cronje, Ricky Schroeder, Lohan Jacobs, Fabian Booysen, Stephan de Wit, Ruaan Lerm, Jaco Kriel (capt), Kwagga Smith, Lourens Erasmus, MB Lusaseni, Martin Muller, Ruan Dreyer, Justin Ackerman, Julian Redelinghuys, Jacques van Rooyen, Malcolm Marx, Mark Pretorius - The Star