Waratahs v Lions: Teams

At SFS Stadium Sydney, Saturday May 21, Kick-Off 10.40 BST

Last updated: 20th May 2011  

Waratahs v Lions: Teams

Hickey: Waratahs clinging to wild card spot

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The last-placed Lions proved they were no pushovers last week and head to Sydney to face the Waratahs in high spirits.

A home tie against the bottom placed side in the Super Rugby standing would normally seem like an easy five-pointer, but the Lions produced a surprise result in Canberra last week to change those opinions.

The Lions surprised everyone - and probably themselves - last week as they opened their Australasian tour with a win over the bumbling Brumbies in the Aussie capital, which was their second victory in 2011 and their first ever in Canberra.

However, the Lions have failed to beat the Waratahs in their last nine attempts and haven't come close either - their last outing ending in a thumping 73-12 win for Saturday's hosts.

But whilst the Lions once again have nothing to lose and only pride to gain, the sixth-placed Waratahs - fresh from a bye - have everything to play for, with Chris Hickey's team clinging to their wild card position.

Hickey believes the bye has been good for the injury-hit Waratahs after their scrappy 20-15 win over the Western Force in Round 12 but admits having the week off does have its challenges.

"There's lot of ways you can manage the bye and all the key physical indicators that we measure indicate that the bye has been really good for the players both physically and mentally," he said.

"They're quite refreshed, training yesterday was as good as we've trained ... coming off the bye you probably have to be a little bit more focused. You learn your lessons throughout this competition and coming off the last bye we didn't perform as well as we would have liked to."

Waratahs: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Tom Carter, 11 Sosene Anesi, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Dean Mumm (c), 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Damien Fitzpatrick, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Kane Douglas, 19 Hugh Perrett, 20 Brendan McKibbin, 21 Daniel Halangahu, 22 Tom Kingston.

Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies la Grange (c), 11 Deon van Rensburg, 10 Butch James, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Joshua Strauss, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Van der Merwe, 4 Wikus van Heerden, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Warren Whiteley, 19 Cobus Grobbelaar, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Dylan des Fountain.

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