Jaco Kriel will captain a Lions team featuring a total of six changes to the starting lineup for the return match against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Following a disappointing 34-10 loss to the Bulls at Ellis Park, Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen has named a new-look matchday 23.

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The backline is most affected as Divan Rossouw and Stean Pienaar replace EW Viljoen and Rabz Maxwane, with Edwill van der Merwe shifting from the right to the left wing.

There is also a new centre pairing as captain Burger Odendaal has been ruled out of the match with a head knock and Wandisile Simelane is left out of the matchday 23 entirely. They are replaced by Matt More and Manuel Rass respectively.

Having played off the bench last week, Tiaan Swanepoel is given an opportunity to start at flyhalf in place of Fred Zeilinga who has been left out of the squad.

There is one change to the pack as Ruhan Straeuli replaces Willem Alberts at lock.

After fielding a six-two split between forwards and backs on the bench last week, the Lions have reverted to a traditional five-three. Loose forward PJ Steenkamp and young fullback Quan Horn are the new names among the substitutes.

Lions – 15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Matt More, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tiaan Swanepoel, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel (c),  5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Ruhan Straeuli, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 PJ Steenkamp, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 EW Viljoen, 23 Quan Horn.

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images