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Sibahle Maxwane and Burger Odendaal are among four players who will make their first official Lions start against the Sharks in Durban on Friday.
The Lions will travel to Durban for the opening match of the South African national Super Rugby tournament, Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked.
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Four players who joined the Lions during the lockout in July – Odendaal, Maxwane, EW Viljoen and hooker Jaco Visagie – will make their first official starts for the team after participating in their preseason.
Viljoen will start at fullback alongside Maxwane and Jamba Ulengo in the last three, while Odendaal will be joined by Dan Kriel in midfield, with Wandisile Simelane on the bench.
Visagie joins loose head Sti Sithole and hard headed Carlu Sadie in the front row for the Lions.
Former Lions captain Jaco Kriel, who returned from Gloucester earlier this year, will make his official return to the team after overcoming an ankle injury.
On the 10-man bench, another former Vodacom Bulls player, tight-headed mainstay Wiehahn Herbst, will also make his debut with the team, while another hard-headed Ruan Dreyer will make a comeback after returning from England.
Four members of the starting lineup, Sadie, Marvin Orie, Vincent Tshituka and Elton Jantjies, were in action for the Springboks over the weekend at the Green and Gold showdown in Cape Town with four more, Dylan Smith, Gianni Lombard, Simelane. and Dreyer. On the bench.
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Lions – 15 EW Viljoen; 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Sibahle Maxwane; 10 Elton Jantjies (c), 9 Dillon Smit; 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Gianni Lombard, 24 Wandisile Simelane, 25 Ruan Dreyer.
Photo: Gallo Images
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