Jannie du Plessis will add his experience and knowledge of the Sharks to the Lions front row for Saturday’s clash with his former team in Durban.
The World Cup-winning Springbok comes into the starting XV for the Joburg side in place of regular No 3 Carlu Sadie.
The only other change to the Lions run-on lineup by coach Ivan van Rooyen also comes in the tight five, where Sti Sithole returns at loosehead for JP Smith, who drops to the bench.
Regular skipper Burger Odendaal and hooker Jaco Visagie, who missed last weekend’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship win over Edinburgh due to Covid-19 protocols, are unavailable for the trip to Kings Park.
Lions assistant coach Albert van den Berg said: “I think it will be a forward dominated battle, particularly when it comes to scrums and mauls.
“Their kicking game is also quite a powerful weapon, so that’s an element we’ve prepared for in our sessions this week. If we can counter those aspects successfully, we feel we’re in with a shout come Saturday.”
Lions – 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Manuel Rass, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Francke Horn, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (c), 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Sibusiso Sangweni, 20 Jason Cairns, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Henco van Wyk, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.
