Ruhan Straeuli will start at blindside flank as the Lions will be without Vincent Tshuituka for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Tshituka will miss the resumption of the URC campaign due to an unspecified injury setback, with Straeuli being named in the No 7 jersey as his replacement.

Tshituka’s brother, Emmanuel, is on the bench as the loose-forward replacement.

The Lions have been boosted by the return to fitness of lock Pieter Jansen van Vuren, who comes straight into the starting lineup.

The rest of the team remains relatively consistent, as Burger Odendaal captains a lineup featuring Wandisile Simelane, Edwill van der Merwe, Jaco Kriel and a front row of Carlu Sadie, Jaco Visagie and Sti Sithole.

Lions – 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (c), 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruhan Straeuli, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 PJ Botha, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Matt More, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images