Lions aim to redeem themselves against Pumas in Currie Cup catfight in Nelspruit

“We have to make amends in terms of our performance.”

That is what Lions head coach Mziwakhe Nkosi wants to see from his team in another tough encounter away from home against the Pumas on Saturday afternoon.

Following their loss in Wellington against the Boland Cavaliers, the Johannesburg side is in a vital must-win duel, and the supporters will be excited for the match at the Nelspruit Rugby Club (2 pm start).

“If we make amends in (our) performance, then hopefully the result will go our way,” Nkosi said ahead of the clash.

“That said, the Pumas turned up in a big way against the Bulls (at Loftus), who themselves are a strong outfit and up until the start of last weekend, we were the log-leaders. In that respect, there have been many serious words and raw conversations, not in disrespect to Boland, but about our performance, or lack thereof.

“We let ourselves down in a big way and want to make up for it by delivering an incredible response.”

Nkosi added that they are excited about the game being ‘taken to the people’ and they look forward to playing at the Nelspruit Rugby Club.

He made a couple of changes to the side that lost to the Cavaliers, bringing in enforcer lock Ruben Schoeman and playmaker-flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela. Loose forward Renzo du Plessis will also add some grunt to the starting pack. The addition of Dobela could give their dangerous backline some direction on the attack.

“It didn’t go really well for us with our set pieces, and our lineouts were off-colour, and there were one or two inaccurate and unforced errors at scrum time. I believe we remedied that. Coming up against the Pumas, known for the performance they dished up last week, we are aware of what we are facing. We are not disillusioned.

“They used it as an effective tool, and there is no doubt they will again. We understand what is coming our way and we are at ease. We want to be accurate with our set piece to impose ourselves on them.”

Lions: 15 Gianni Lombard, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Kelly Mpeku, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Siba Qoma, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Dylan Sjöblom, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Johnre Stopforth, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Layton Horn, 22 Sam Francis, 23 Tapiwa Mafura.

Pumas: 15 Tino Swanepoel, 14 Stefan Coetzee, 13 Sango Xamlashle, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Darren Adonis, 10 Danrich Visagie, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisante, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Etienne Janeke. Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Zuki Sali, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Hanno Theunissen, 20 Andre Fouché, 21 Russwell Fredericks, 22 Tiaan Pretorius, 23 Dalvon Blood.