Lions bids farewell to Alberts, Tshituka and Hendrikse

There will be Ellis Park farewells for Willem Alberts, Emmanuel Tshituka and Jordan Hendrikse when the Lions clash with Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) penultimate round fixture on Saturday.

Alberts, who blew out 40 candles last week, will be hanging up his boots at the conclusion of the season while Tshituka and Hendrikse will be joining siblings at the Sharks.

First though, the Lions have urgent business.

Lock Alberts and flank Tshituka will start but Gianni Lombard will start at flyhalf with Hendrikse and Sanele Nohamba starting off the bench.

In the only other backline change Sibahle Maxwane starts ahead of David Kriel who drops out of the match 23.

The Lions have opted to go with a forward-heavy bench featuring just Nohamba and Hendrikse as backs.

They are hoping to subdue the Warriors up front and draw them into close combat.

The Warriors have proved themselves thoroughly proficient at playing a high tempo game in which they hit as hard around the fringes as they do out wide.

The Lions need wins against the Warriors and the Stormers in their remaining league matches if they want to remain in contention for a place in the knock-out stages of the competition.

They start the penultimate round in 10th place and will be hunting bonus-point victories to strengthen their case.

The Warriors come off a defiant defeat against the Bulls.

They stared down the barrel 27 points adrift at Loftus before staging a spirited fightback and came within six points of the hosts.

They are expected to beef up their starting team as they continue their quest to remain top of the table.

Lions team 

Quan Horn; Sibahle Maxwane, Erich Cronje, Marius Louw (captain), Edwill van der Merwe; Gianni Lombard, Morné van den Berg; Francke Horn, Emmanuel Tshituka, JC Pretorius; Ruan Delport, Willem Alberts; Asenathi Ntlabakanye, PJ Botha, Morgan Naudé. Substitutes: Jaco Visagie, JP Smith, Ruan Dreyer, Reinhard Nothnagel, Ruan Venter, Hanru Sirgel; Sanele Nohamba, Jordan Hendrikse.