Johannesburg — Sibusiso Sangweni has big boots to fill, but the Lions' loose-forward believes he will be well-armed and prepared to weather the onslaught of the Bulls this weekend.
Sangweni will start against the Pretoria-based side on Saturday at Emirates Airline Park (kick-off 4.05pm), joined in the starting XV by Ruhan Straeuli and Francke Horn, and there will be heightened interest regarding how the trio performs without former teammate Vincent Tshituka.
The 21-year-old played 14 matches in the United Rugby Championship (URC) last season, so as the new one starts this weekend, he will be no mug regarding the rigours of the tournament.
“Last season, we were treading in uncharted waters,” Sangweni admitted Thursday at the Lions training day at Johannesburg Stadium. “It was the first URC.
“I was fortunate to play more than 10 games last season, so I can now bring that experience in. It is not necessarily about being frantic but rather about bringing calmness to the team.
“We must also have tunnel vision regarding the mission of the day. We must try and keep the composure in the team.”
The Bulls will select their matchday 23 on Friday, and it is possible that it will be a team packed with extremely talented and dangerous players, especially at flank and eighthman. Skipper Marcell Coetzee was one of the standout performers of the previous URC season, while former Lions man Cyle Brink is a destructive opponent.
Marco Jansen van Vuuren has also returned to the fold up north. Elrigh Louw, meanwhile, will not be available for selection as he is on the bench for the Springboks for their Rugby Championship clash against Argentina on Saturday.
Said Sangweni of those drawn battlelines: “It is going to be a dog fight.
“They have quality loose-forwards there but I feel that we have also grown as a team during the off-season. We have put up the best loose-trio that we can have, and we will need to bring our A-game.
“We are going to be called underdogs right now,” he added, “but that is when you can surprise people. We don’t mind surprising people on the weekend because no-one expects it.”
Lions Starting XV: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruhan Straeuli, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (capt), 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole;
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Sanele Nohamaba, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Zander du Plessis
IOL Sport