Lions keep their winning formula

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen has named his team to face the Scarlets in the second roud of the United Rugby Championships.

Van Rooyen named an unchanged matchday 23 to face the Welsh side at the Parc y Scarlets stadium in Llanelli on Friday.

Van Rooyen believes his team have confidence going into Friday's game after a winning start to their campaign - with a comprehensive win over Zebre last week.

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"We appreciate that Scarlets will pose a different challenge for us, but we are confident the players selected will once more aim for a positive result tomorrow," the coach said.

"The team has prepared well in the lead-up to Friday, with a few productive planning sessions on and off the training field.

"Last week we spoke about momentum and that's what we would like maintain from here onwards," Van Rooyen added.

Lions: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Pieter Jansen Van Vuren, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Ruan Dreyer.

Replacements: 16 Pieter Botha, 17 Sithembiso Sithole, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Eddie Fouche, 23 Divan Rossouw.

Date: Friday, October

Venue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli

Kick-off: 19.35 (20.35 SA time; 18,35 GMT)

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Assistant referees: Elgan Williams (Wales), Tom Spurrier (Wales)

TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)