JOHANNESBURG - The Lions will welcome back a few stars this week, but they may also have lost one of their unsung heroes of last season.
Loosehead prop Dylan Smith who only recently returned to action after hurting his shoulder in the latter stages of last year, will undergo scans on Tuesday to ascertain the severity of an arm injury picked up against the Jaguares at the weekend.
Smith, who formed such a formidable front-row partnership with Julian Redelinghuys and Malcolm Marx last year, missed the first game of the new season three weeks ago, but returned to the bench in week two and last weekend started in the No 1 jersey.
Smith, though, hurt his shoulder early in the second half in Buenos Aires and was replaced by Jacques van Rooyen.
On the team’s arrival back in Johannesburg on Monday, Lions coach Johan Ackermann said Smith’s injury would be checked out. “It’s only Dylan we’re a bit worried about,” he said. “But, let’s first see what the scans tell us.”
Already the Lions have to soldier on without Redelinghuys this season, while Howard Mnisi was ruled out for the entire competition after hurting his knee in round one.
The good news though in the Lions camp, is that they’ll be a much stronger team this week for the visit of the Reds.
Not only will backline stars Elton Jantjies, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Lionel Mapoe come back into the team after missing out against the Jaguares, so too will Franco Mostert up front. All four men missed the trip to Argentina.
Also, Ackermann is sure to give Marx a start again this weekend after opting for Robbie Coetzee in the last two matches, while Jaco Kriel, a bench warmer in the loss to the Jaguares, will be back in the No 6 jumper.
Not too many of the Lions players who were given an opportunity in Buenos Aires grabbed the chance, lock Marvin Orie being the exception and he could well find himself alongside Mostert in the starting team this week.
The Lions will be back on the training ground on Tuesday and Ackermann is sure to hammer home the point that playing with 14 men for 60 minutes is unacceptable. Andries Ferreira and Coetzee were both sin-binned for high tackles against the Jaguares, which didn’t help the Lions’ cause in already trying circumstances.
Ackermann’s men will fancy their chances of hitting back immediately this weekend, as the Reds have yet to convince the critics that they are a team good enough to challenge for the title this year. They now boast the likes of veteran George Smith and Wallaby skipper Stephen Moore, but have managed just the one win this season, a rather fortunate victory against the Sharks (28-26) and lost their other two games - against the Western Force (26-19) and the Crusaders (22-20).