Johannesburg — The Emirates Lions will be without the services of their inspirational and incomparable captain Jaco Kriel for the rest of the season, starting with their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Munster this weekend.
Kriel suffered an injury this past Sunday in the Lions important and morale-boosting victory over Cardiff Rugby and as a result underwent surgery on Thursday, which will relegate him to the sidelines in the coming weeks.
“Unfortunately, the knock was quite serious,” said head coach Jacques van Rooyen in the team announcement on Friday. “He will be out for the rest of the season, so it is probably three to four months, I think, is the verdict.”
The veteran will be replaced by the exciting, young prospect that is Sibusiso Sangweni for the upcoming clash on Saturday at Emirates Airline Park in the only change to the matchday 23. In his absence, the captaincy will revert back to Burger Odendaal, most likely for the rest of the season if he too stays injury free.
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The loss of the highly respected Kriel will come as a set-back to Van Rooyen and Co, no matter how the union cuts the cheese. The Springbok has arguably been one of the reasons for the Lions squad sticking together during what has been a difficult season.
Nonetheless, the matchday 23 cannot dwell too much on Kriel with the Irish giants looming large before them. Munster will still be without a number of their “first-choice” players, with at least five of their squad members involved in a massive Six Nations clash against Scotland this weekend.
Nevertheless, they still pose a considerable danger and getting one-up on them will be a massive test of character for a Lions team that has at times crumbled under pressure when their confidence has taken a hit. There is also a strong South African influence permeating in the Irish side, as pointed out by Van Rooyen, one that helps negate local conditions through the knowledge of head coach Johann van Graan and defence coach JP Ferreira.
“There is a reason they are on top of the log every year,” said the Lions coach. “We have the belief that Munster is currently one of the Top 2 teams in the competition.
“The Irish teams are generally fit, they can play the full 80 minutes and their skill sets, on the whole, are probably the best in the competition. Munster has got a nice South African flavour to them, as well, with their coaches and players.
“It is a good challenge for us in terms of that we will have to be spot on for 80 minutes and to show them what Emirates Airline Park is all about.”
Another SA influence that can have a huge impact on the proceedings of the encounter, is Damian de Allende. The Springbok and world cup winner has been selected by Van Graan in the starting XV for the match, and will be joined by countryman Chris Cloete on the bench.
“Damian made a massive difference last week when he came on against the Bulls,” Odendaal noted on Friday.
“It is a bit of a different challenge for us. We know he likes to get over the gainline and keep defenders busy, so that is something that we will have to sort out but, ja, I am looking forward to the opportunity to play against him.
Van Rooyen and Co seem to be expecting a physical encounter from Munster full of attacking intent by winning territory first, building momentum in the midfield by committing defenders and then working the ball then out wide and into space.
The URC encounter kicks off at 2pm.
Emirates Lions Starting XV:
15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (capt), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sithembiso Sithole;
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21. Nico Steyn /Ginter Smuts, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel
Munster Starting XV:
15 Mike Haley; 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Shane Daly; 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Neil Cronin; 8 Alex Kendellen, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (capt), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley;
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Mark Donnelly, Keynan Knox, Eoin O’Connor, Chris Cloete, Paddy Patterson, Ben Healy, Liam Coombes
IOL Sport