Lions stick with Viljoen at pivot for Ulster

EW Viljoen will continue his efforts from the flyhalf position, Emirates Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen disclosed yesterday, for today’s United Rugby Championship clash against Ulster (8.35pm SA time kick-off).

In recent weeks, the Lions have had something of a crisis in the No 10 spot after first losing Jordan Hendrikse and then Eddie Fouché, both within a week.

Enter Viljoen – usually preferred in the fullback position – who stepped up for the team to play at pivot in the narrow 13-9 loss to Glasgow last weekend.

Viljoen had a decent game in the position, making all his shots at goal, while taking on the gain-line with purpose.

He was not 100% solid in defence and perhaps could have distributed the ball a bit more, although it was arguably not a match to rely on an expansive game plan.

In an effort to shore up the position, the Lions flew in Fred Zeilinga earlier this week, and the 28-year-old will start the game off the bench.

Said Van Rooyen: “We are really happy to have Fred here. EW had a good game last weekend, and we felt it was the right thing to do to keep him there.

“Fred only really trained for the first time with us on Monday, and there is quite a bit of detail that has changed regarding how we go about things these past three or four weeks.

“We just felt it would have been unfair to throw Fred into the deep end from the beginning ... We are excited to give Fred a go, hopefully at the end of the match to close the game off.”

With the question of flyhalf resolved, the only other major concern the Lions management had to ponder this week was the replacement of injured lock Pieter Jansen van Vuren, and here Van Rooyen has stuck to the tried and tested, introducing Reinhard Nothnagel to the starting XV.

As such, Wilhelm van der Sluys will make his debut in the tournament off the bench, along with Emmanuel Tshituka, who can cover the second row and loose trio.

There were also a further two changes to the pack: Prop Carlu Sadie will start alongside Jaco Visagie and Sti Sithole in the front row, while Sibusiso Sangweni will pack down on the side of the scrum in place of Jaco Kriel.

Perhaps the most perplexing selection remains the preference of Manuel Rass ahead of Wandisile Simelane again, but Van Rooyen insisted that the reasoning for the pick was sound.

“Manny had a good game last weekend,” said Van Rooyen. “Hopefully we can apply a different form of pressure (through a different source) in the first 50, 60 minutes.

“Unfortunately, last week in the last 10, 20 minutes, we felt the game was on a knife-edge and we had them under pressure.

“Hopefully, we can keep them (Ulster) under pressure in a different situation and Wandi can come in and finish the game for us by bringing that X-factor, and be the deciding factor.”

LIONS

Starting XV: Divan Rossouw, Stean Pienaar, Manuel Rass, Burger Odendaal (capt),

Rabz Maxwane, EW Viljoen, Andre Warner; Ruhan Straeuli, Vincent Tshituka, Sibusiso Sangweni, Reinhard Nothnagel, Ruben Schoeman, Carlu Sadie, Jaco Visagie, Sti Sithole

Replacements: PJ Botha, Ruan Dreyer, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Wilhelm van der Sluys, Emmanuel Tshituka, Morné van den Berg, Fred Zeilinga, Wandisile Simelane