Emirates Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen has named a 28-man squad for the trip, with the men from Johannesburg due to depart South Africa on Tuesday.

With Odendaal not on the plane, former Junior Springbok midfielder Henco van Wyk will embark on his first Vodacom URC tour, while Sanele Nohamba, who recently completed the move from the Cell C Sharks to the Emirates Lions, has also been included in the squad.

“We’re quite pleased with the squad we’ve selected ahead of our final Vodacom URC match in Newport against the Dragons,” said Van Rooyen.

“As mentioned last week, it gives us an opportunity as a franchise to cast our eye towards the future, and we believe that the bulk of this group will form part of that core.

“Once again, this approach is in line with our strategy of developing within our structures and some of these names are proof of that. In saying that, Dragons will be a tough outfit to play in their own backyard. However, it offers a few of our players an opportunity to impress.”

Emirates Lions tour squad:

Forwards: Sti Sithole, JP Smith, Jannie du Plessis, Jaco Visagie, PJ Botha, Ruan Dreyer, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Reinhard Nothnagel (captain), Ruan Venter, Ruben Schoeman, Sibusiso Sangweni, Vincent Tshituka, Francke Horn, Jarod Cairns, Morne Brandon, PJ Steenkamp.

Backs: Morne van den Berg (vice-captain), Andre Warner, Jordan Hendrikse, Tiaan Swanepoel, Matt More, Manuel Rass, Henco van Wyk, Edwill van der Merwe, Stean Pienaar, Quan Horn, Sanele Nohamba, Rabz Maxwane.