Kwagga earns his stripes for Super Rugby derby with the Bulls

THE man who broke the back of the Brumbies in Canberra last week will be back to try and do the same against the Bulls this weekend.

Kwagga Smith, who outpaced three Brumbies defenders to score the only, match-clinching try in the Australian capital last Friday is expected to stay in the Lions No 6 jersey against the Bulls at Ellis Park in the Gauteng Super Rugby derby on Saturday.

Smith, who played in the early tournaments of the World Sevens series, but missed out in the latter stages of the BlitzBoks’ title-winning run to try and establish himself in the XVs game, got his chance to shine in Australia. He took over from the injured Jaco Kriel.

Now the 23-year-old is in for an extended run at openside flank because Kriel is not ready to return to action.

The Bok flanker, who is hoping to play all three Tests against France next month, has been sidelined for nearly four weeks after hurting his knee in the win against the Jaguares late last month.

The 27-year-old is doing “agility training” and is unlikely to play against the Bulls.

Another regular in the team before the trip to Australia who’ll miss out is wing Madosh Tambwe. He was left out of the tour to focus on getting into the SA Under-20 squad for the World Junior Championship, starting later this month in Georgia.

DRC-born Tambwe, however, missed out on a spot in the squad after it came to light that he had not been properly registered as a South African citizen despite coming to this country as a toddler.

However, he ran out for the Golden Lions in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge and picked up a side strain against the Namibian Welwitschias at the weekend.

Prop Hencus van Wyk, who started against the Rebels in Australia, sustained a neck strain in that match and is also unlikely to feature .

It is expected that Lions boss Johan Ackermann will hand Faf de Klerk a start against the Bulls after the No 9 missed the wins against the Rebels and Brumbies. He started the first tour match against the Force.

Ackermann could again change his front row, opting for Ruan Dreyer, Jacques van Rooyen and Malcolm Marx, after they played off the bench last weekend in Canberra.

Ruan Combrinck could be back this week after returning from a shoulder injury picked up in December.