Match Preview: Emirates Lions v Zebre Parma

The Emirates Lions are back on home soil in Johannesburg, with skipper Marius Louw saying they have grown as a group from their four weeks on the road in Europe.

They beat the Scarlets 24-23 and picked up losing bonus points in narrow defeats away to Edinburgh (17-16), Benetton (15-10) and Ulster (24-17).

Centre Louw said: “I think we grew a lot as a team. We improved week by week.

“We grew closer as a team, as individuals, and I think our progress week by week showed it. We were unlucky not to get more wins, but we got points out of every single game. Now we can carry on with the rest of the season back home.”

Emirates Lions v Zebre Parma

Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg – KO 12.55 IRE & UK / 13.55 ITA / 14.55 SA

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU, 50th league game)

AR 1: Morne Ferreira (SARU) AR 2: Paul Mente (SARU)

TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU)

Live on: SuperSport, Viaplay, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Emirates Lions: Quan Horn, Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw (CAPT), Edwill van der Merwe, Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg, JP Smith, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Ruan Delport, Ruben Schoeman, Emmanuel Tshituka, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn

Replacements: Jaco Visagie, Corne Fourie, Ruan Smith, Willem Alberts, Hanru Sirgel, JC Pretorius, Jordan Hendrikse, Rabz Maxwane

Zebre Parma: Lorenzo Pani, Scott Gregory, Luca Morisi, Franco Smith Jr, Simone Gesi, Giovanni Montemauri, Gonzalo Garcia, Danilo Fischetti, Marco Manfredi, Juan Pitinari, Leonard Krumov, Andrea Zambonin, Giacomo Ferrari, Iacopo Bianchi, Giovanni Licata (CAPT)

Replacements: Giampietro Ribaldi, Luca Rizzoli, Matteo Nocera, Guido Volpi, Taina Fox-Matamua, Thomas Dominguez, Geronimo Prisciantelli, Jacopo Trulla