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NEWS: Hot-stepping Edwill van der Merwe set to debut for Lions

The Lions have included new signing Edwill van der Merwe and former Springbok Willem Alberts in their matchday 23 to play Cardiff on Saturday.

Edwill van der Merwe
Image Copyright - Steve Haag Sports

The Lions have included new signing Edwill van der Merwe and former Springbok Willem Alberts in their matchday 23 to play Cardiff on Saturday.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

The Ultimate Rugby Championship resumes this week after the international break, with the Lions hosting Cardiff at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, where 2000 fans will be allowed to attend.

The exciting and elusive van der Merwe – who made the move from the Stormers – will make his debut on the left wing. The talented centre pairing of Burger Odendaal -who captains the side – and Wandisile Simelane are inside van der Merwe.

In the forwards, stalwarts Jaco Kriel and Carlu Sadie start while Alberts is set to make an impact off the bench.

“It’s good to be back home,” said coach Ivan van Rooyen, as per SA Rugby Mag.

“We’ve put in solid training sessions on and off the field over the past three weeks and the guys are looking in great shape and quite excited to play at home.

“Our focus this weekend is to achieve a positive result by executing on the plans we have set out for ourselves as a squad and, most importantly, improving on the gains we achieved overseas in certain areas.

“We are extremely pleased to have a majority-fit squad to select from for first home fixture. Willem and Tiaan missed out on the first four games of our northern-hemisphere campaign, so they’ll be raring to go should they get an opportunity.”

Lions: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Sibahle Maxwane, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie 2, Gerrit Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole.

Subs: 16 Pieter Jacobus Botha, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Ruhan Straeuli, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Matt More, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.

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