Pretorius part of strong Lions pride for European excursion

Ivan van Rooyen has named JC Pretorius in a 29-man Lions squad for their upcoming tour of Europe for Vodacom United Rugby Championship and European Challenge Cup fixtures.

Pretorius, who recently joined the Lions’ ranks from the Blitzboks, have not yet made his debut for the Johannesburg franchise. But the 24-year-old now looks set to earn his first cap franchise after being included in the touring squad for by coach Van Rooyen.

Apart from Pretorius who is a capped sevens international, the Lions have three Springboks in their touring squad: Willem Alberts, Jaco Kriel and Andries Coetzee.

The Joburg team face Muster on Friday, 6 January in the URC, followed by return legs against Stade Francais and Dragons in consecutive weeks in the European Challenge Cup competition. The four-week tour wraps up with a clash against Irish outfit Connacht at the Sportsground in Galway on 28 January in the URC.

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“There’s still a tremendous amount of belief within the squad in terms of where we are currently in the process. We know we need to be more consistent on attack and defense especially. We are under no illusion that it’s going be a tough tour.”

“We like touring, says van Rooyen.  We spend a lot of time together in Johannesburg, but time together on tour is just different. Going away together for four weeks on tour is a great opportunity for us to pull together, get consistency in our preparations and roll with the punches,” he concluded.

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Lions 29-man for European tour

Forwards — Ruan Smith, JP Smith, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Morgan Naude, PJ Botha, Michael van Vuuren, Rhynardt Reijnsburger, Willem Alberts, Emmanuel Tshituka, Emile van Heerden, Darrian Landsberg, Ruan Venter, Jarod Cairns, Sibusiso Sangweni, Jaco Kriel, Ruhan Straeuli, JC Pretorius.

Backs — Morne van den Berg, Andre Warner, Jordan Hendrikse, Gianni Lombard, Marius Louw, Manuel Rass, Henco van Wyk, Rhynhardt Jonker, Edwill van der Merwe, Stean Pienaar, Quan Horn, Andries Coetzee.

Players not considered due to injury — Sti Sithole, Ruan Dreyer, Reinhard Nothnagel, Francke Horn, Sanele Nohamba and Rabz Maxwane.

Head coach: Ivan van Rooyen.