Stean Pienaar returns to the right wing for the Lions in Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash against Benetton at Ellis Park.

Pienaar replaces Rabz Maxwane, who drops out of the match-day 23, in a starting XV which sees JP Smith and Carlu Sadie pack down in the front row with hooker PJ Botha.

Saturday’s match marks the Lions’ last home game before jetting off to Wales in two weeks for the final group round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys emphasised the need to execute effectively against Benetton, as the Italians have the ability to catch teams off-guard.

“The focus for us this week has been on better decision-making and keeping our structures when it comes to the fundamentals of the game which could ultimately give us the edge,” Redelinghuys said.

Watch: Top-of-the-table clash deserves a full house!

Lions – 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (c), 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, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.
Subs: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.