Stormers prop Brian Mujati will go head-to-head with former Lions teammate Heinke van der Merwe this week, when the Cape-Town-based franchise travel to Ellis Park for a must-win Super 14 encounter on Saturday.

However, before he arrives in Johannesburg for Saturday's crucial on-field battle, his management would have fought another 'off-field battle' against the Lions' brains trust in the ongoing saga over the legality of Mujati's transfer to Cape Town at the end of last year.

Administrators of the Stormers and the Lions are still involved in a tug-of-war over the services of former Zimbabwean schoolboy star — who is on the shortlist to be named in new Springbok coach Peter de Villiers's first national training squad later on Saturday.

An appeal by the Lions, against an earlier ruling in favour of the Stormers, could reach finality on Tuesday... or it could drag on.

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) ruled in February that Mujati, who had been lured to Cape Town by new Stormers head coach Rassie Erasmus last year, did not have a valid contract with the Lions at that stage.

The Lions insisted that their contact with the front row forward was valid. They argued that Erasmus — along with Frikkie Erasmus, commercial manager of the Stormers, and the player's agent Jason Smith — had negotiated with Mujati while he was still contracted to the Lions.

The Lions' appealed against the ruling of advocate Jannie Lubbe will enter the next stage on Tuesday, when the merits of the Lions' appeal will be decided.

If the Johannesburg-based franchise wins this mini battle, the case will continue. If the ruling goes against them, Mujati (or at least his management team) would have won the first round if this week's showdown.

The basis of the Lions' appeal is that Lubbe erred when he ruled in February that the Lions did not have a valid contract with Mujati and the player was thus a free agent.

This stems from the fact that Mujati, at the time of the negotiations in August last year, did not have a valid work permit — as his study visa had expired.

The Lions maintain Mujati has been playing for the Stormers unlawfully, because he has never been released from his three-year contract with them.

Mujati has been a cornerstone in a struggling Stormers scrum this season and now that he qualifies for Springbok selection on residential basis, will no doubt be called up by De Villiers on Saturday.

Mujati used his two seasons with the Lions to establish him as one of the most exciting forward prospects in the country, with his partnership with Van der Merwe making the Lions front row one of the most feared scrummaging units in the Super 14 competition last year.

That combination could be re-united if both are called into De Villiers' training squad of 40-odd on Saturday.

But before then the two will go head-to-head in a crucial game, which could decided the Stormers' Super 14 play-off prospects.

It is expected that Mujati would be moved back to tighthead prop — after scrumming down as a loosehead for the Stormers in the last couple of weeks — and will then be confronted by Van der Merwe, who (like Mujati) is one of the brightest front row prospects in South Africa.

Mujati came to Johannesburg in 2003 to play trials for the Lions and studied at Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg) on a rugby bursary the following year.

He made his Currie Cup debut for the Lions in 2006 and played only two games before sustaining an injury that kept him out for the rest of the season.

Last year disaster stuck again when he injured his wrist in a Currie Cup match against Griquas and had to sit on the sidelines for seven months.

Mujati said he moved to Cape Town for "personal reasons" and a move he had to make.

In several interviews since his move he made it clear he was "enjoying the city", especially the "vibe and the people" at Newlands.

But between now and Saturday there is the off-field battle to win and then the real battle... against a former team-mate.

365