Photo ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

United Rugby Championship: Zebre 26-38 Lions – As it happened

The round one match will be the first-ever meeting between Zebre and the Lions and kicks off the inaugural United Rugby Championship season.

by James Richardson

24-09-2021 17:38

in Rugby

Photo ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

Zebre vs Lions LIVE scores: Zebre host the Lions in the United Rugby Championship on Friday 24 September 2021.

The round one match will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides and kicks off the inaugural United Rugby Championship season.

Zebre vs Lions LIVE scores

Zebre vs Lions preview

Zebre have engaged in an aggressive recruitment campaign and will be looking to end an eight-match losing streak carried over from the old Pro14.

The Lions arrive in Italy off the back of a dismal Currie Cup campaign, but with a few new faces among the coaching staff and a team loaded with talent.

Against an Italian side, the Lions will need to ensure they dominate their own set pieces and kick accurately when they do.

Zebre will want to avoid having to make a mountain of tackles and should fight tooth and nail to keep hold of the ball.

It’s difficult to pick a winner between these two sides as neither are carrying a great deal of form, but on paper the Lions appear to have superior personnel.

What they said

“The Zebras have a clear and defined style of play. We will continue to work to coach a team that loves to play rugby and keep possession, without losing it easily,” Zebre Coach Emiliano Bergamaschi said.

“We must develop in the players the awareness of having to make the right choice at the right time as well as the importance of maintaining possession of the ball.”

“It’s an exciting new chapter for the Emirates Lions and we are really looking forward to our first match against Zebre,” Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said.

“The URC will test our character as a group but it’s a challenge we are up for.

“We believe the match-23 we’ve decided upon will be competitive on the day and hopefully establish some momentum going into the next few weeks of the tournament.”

Team line-ups: Zebre vs Lions

Zebre: Junior Laloifi, Pierre Bruno, Giulio Bisegni (captain), Tommaso Boni, Mattia Bellini, Carlo Canna, Marcello Violi, Danilo Fischetti, Luca Bigi, Matteo Nocera, David Sisi, Leonard Krumov, Maxime Mbanda, Iacopo Bianchi, Renato Giammarioli.

Replacements: Oliviero Fabiani, Andrea Lovotti, Ion Neculai, Andrea Zambonin, Govanni Licata, Alessandro Fusco, Antonio Rizzi, Jacopo Trulla.

Emirates Lions: EW Viljoen, Jamba Ulengo, Wandisile Simelane, Burger Odendaal (captain), Rabz Maxwane, Jordan Hendrikse, Andre Warner, Francke Horn, Vincent Tshituka, Jaco Kriel, Pieter Jansen Van Vuren, Ruben Schoeman, Carlu Sadie, Jaco Visagie, Ruan Dreyer.

Replacements: PJ Botha, Sti Sithole, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Reinhard Nothnagel, Sibusiso Sangweni, Morne van den Berg, Eddie Fouche, Divan Rossouw.