Lions boosted by Jordan Hendrikse return for Stormers battle

Cape Town - The under-pressure Lions have been boosted by the return of dynamic flanker Vincent Tshituka for their United Rugby Championship (URC) fixture against the high-riding Stormers at Ellis Park on Saturday, but probably the biggest news is the long-awaited comeback from injury of first-choice flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse.

The latter was injured early in the Lions URC tour of the UK and Ireland last November and he will get an opportunity off the bench.

In other good news for the Lions, regular captain and inside centre Burger Odendaal is back in the starting lineup after missing the trip to Pretoria last week due to concussion protocols.

Commenting on the inclusion of Tshituka and Hendrikse, coach Ivan van Rooyen said it is good news for his team.

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“We are pleased to have Vince and Jordan back. They’ve recovered and trained well over the past few weeks, so we look forward to their involvement once more.”

Despite a run of losses, Van Rooyen feels the Lions’ attitude was spot on during their performance against the Bulls last week and he believes his team for ready for the Stormers, who they beat in December.

“As a group, we felt our overall attitude and intensity went up a notch against the Bulls. It’s the kind of momentum we’re eager to take into Saturday on the back of a positive week of training,” he said.

Lions – 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tiaan Swanepoel, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6. Jaco Kriel (c), 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Ruhan Straeuli, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Ruan Dreyer.

Bench: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Ruan Venter, 20