The Golden Lions Rugby Union have released a media statement outlining which players are available for the forthcoming campaign in defence of the Currie Cup, as well as an update on which players have long term injuries, and the status of players involved with the national squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship.

The Currie Cup squad is a nice blend of experienced Super Rugby campaigners, players from the recently completed Currie Cup qualification series and exciting newcomers.

Xerox Golden Lions 2016 Currie Cup squad:

FORWARDS:

Dylan Smith, Corné Fourie, Jacques van Rooyen, Pieter Scholtz, Justin Ackerman, Akker van der Merwe, Ramone Samuels, Robbie Coetzee, MB Lusaseni, Lourens Erasmus, Bobby de Wee, JP du Preez, Cyle Brink, Steph de Wit, Ruaan Lerm, Fabian Booysen, Victor Sekekete, Kwagga Smit, Ruan Ackermann, Andries Ferreira

BACKS:

Ross Cronjé, Dillon Smit, Marco Janse van Vuren, Marnitz Boshoff, Jaco van der Walt, Ashlon Davids, Courtnall Skosan, Anthony Volmink, Selom Gavor, Koch Marx, Sylvian Mahuza, Andries Coetzee, JW Bell, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Howard Mnisi, Stokkies Hanekom, Jacques Nel

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In addition to the above squad, clarity was given on a number of players suffering with long term injuries, as well as the players on National duty or released to play in Japan.

INJURED PLAYERS STILL IN CONTENTION FOR THE CURRIE CUP:

Jano Venter

INJURED PLAYERS WHO WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR THE CURRIE CUP:

Ruan Dreyer, Robert Kruger, Harold Vorster

PLAYERS WITH THE SPRINGBOKS, OR RELEASED TO PLAY IN JAPAN:

Warwick Tecklenburg, Warren Whiteley, Faf de Klerk, Ruan Combrinck, Malcolm Marx, Julian Redelinghuys, Lionel Mapoe, Elton Jantjies, Franco Mostert, Jaco Kriel

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The Xerox Golden Lions kick off their defence of the Currie Cup with a testing opener against the Steval Pumas at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday, with the match day squad due to be announced at 12:15 on Thursday 11 August at Emirates Airline Park.

There is a full program of match day games with the both the Under 19 & Under 21 sides hosting their Leopards counterparts from 10:15, with the main game due to kick off at 15:00 SA Time.

The gates open at 10:00, and ticket prices range from just R 20.00 up to R 100.00.

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The following teams have been announced for the weekend’s games:

Xerox Golden Lions Under 19 Team to play the Leopards: Kick Off 10:15

Team: 15 JA Cilliers, 14 T February, 13 W van der Bank, 12 B Pretorius, 11 M Tambwe, 10 E Fouche, 9 BA Thain, 8 WL Massyn, 7 HG Dayimani, 6 E Jansen, 5 RP Nothnagel, 4 T Venter, 3 CD Fillies, 2 HP van Schoor, 1 LR Kruger

Replacements: 16 M de Jongh, 17 NP Bezuidenhout, 18 AR Baumann, 19 T Skhosana, 20 PJ Wait, 21 M van den Berg, 22 M Raphunga, 23 S Pienaar

Xerox Golden Lions Under 21 Team to play the Leopards: Kick Off 12:15

Team: 15 Kobus Engelbrecht, 14 Cameron Rooi, 13 Jarryd Sage, 12 Shaun Reynolds, 11 Godfrey Ramaboea, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Marco Janse van Vuuren, 8 Wiehan Jacobs, 7 Adriaan Bester, 6 James Venter, 5 FP Pelser, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3Kyle Kruger, 2 Pieter Jansen, 1 Arnout Malherbe

Replacements: 16 Le Roux Baard, 17 Jacobs Tredoux, 18 Marnus Erasmus, 19 Morné Moos, 20 Jo-Hanco de Villiers, 21 Curtis Jonas, 22 Ronald Brown

XEROX GOLDEN LIONS TEAM TO PLAY THE STEVAL PUMAS: KICK OFF 15h00

Team: 15 Sylvian Mahuza, 14 Koch Marx, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Howard Mnisi (Co-Captain), 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Ross Cronjé (Co-Captain), 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Steph de Witt, 5 Lourens Erasmus, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Corné Fourie

Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Justin Ackerman, 18 MB Lusaseni, 19 Victor Sekeketse, 20 Dillon Smit, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Jacques Nel

From the GLRU Media release:

“Dual captaincy will be shared by Ross Cronjé and Howard Mnisi during the Xerox Golden Lions Currie Cup campaign this year.

“The Golden Lions take on the Steval Pumas at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday. Kick-off is at 15:00 SA Time.

“9 Seniors are away on Springbok duty while a few seniors will have a well deserved rest.

“The side taking on the Pumas is a blend of seniors and young stalwarts who performed well in the Currie Cup Qualifying round.”