Lions again make sweeping changes
Injury-ridden flyhalves Gianni Lombard and Kade Wolhuter may have the opportunity to reestablish their credentials when the Lions take on Montpellier in the Challenge Cup on Saturday.
The Lions have again opted to rest many of their leading lights for an away trip.
Lombard and Wolhuter were star age group performers who had not fully realised their potential in the senior ranks, but much of that is due to injury.
Lombard was hamstrung by an MCL injury in 2019 and an ACL in 2022. He struggled with a hamstring injury at the start of the season but featured as a substitute in the Challenge Cup matches against Perpignan and Newcastle Falcons in December. In the latter match he came on as substitute for Quan Horn in the 73rd minute, while against Perpignan he replaced Andries Coetzee in the 70th minute.
Whether Lombard, who has also been affiliated to NTT Red Hurricanes in Japan, will see more game time this week, remains to be seen. Coetzee is in the squad but Horn has been rested.
Wolhuter too has spent prolonged periods on the sidelines, having suffered back-to-back ACL injuries while at Western Province and the Stormers.
A bright future was predicted for Wolhuter when he was still a schoolboy prodigy. This week’s trip will ironically take him back to Montpellier where he tried to establish himself between 2018 and 2020.
Wolhuter may provide cover for Jordan Hendrikse. Sanele Nohamba has usurped Hendrikse as the Lions’ go-to flyhalf in the United Rugby Championship but the latter delivered a forceful performance from the bench in their victory over the Sharks in Durban last weekend.
It will be a much-changed Lions team that will do duty this weekend. Lock Darrien Landsberg is the only starter from last weekend’s clash against the Sharks that will make his way to Europe.
Lions squad
Backs: Andries Coetzee, Erich Cronjé, Boldwin Hansen, Jordan Hendrikse, Rynhardt Jonker, Gianni Lombard, Johan Mulder, Stean Pienaar, Manuel Rass, Nico Steyn, Kade Wolhuter.
Forwards: Morné Brandon, Izan Esterhuizen, Corné Fourie, Travis Gordon, Darrien Landsberg, Morgan Naude, Etienne Oosthuizen, Heiko Pohlmann, JC Pretorius, Raynard Roets, Hanru Sirgel, Ruan Smith, Ruhan Straeuli, Conrad van Vuuren, Jaco Visagie.