Lions make minor tweaks for Leinster
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Lions have named their team to face Leinster in Round 17 of the United Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Lions have made three changes to their starting XV following their European Challenge Cup defeat to Glasgow Warriors last weekend.
There are two in the pack and one in the backline.
Rhynardt Rijnsburger will don the No.1 jersey in his first URC start
The young prop replaces veteran Jean-Pierre Smith, who moves to the bench.
The other two changes are injury-enforced. Flank Ruan Venter and wing Rabz Maxwane suffered head knocks during the Challenge Cup quarterfinal against Glasgow Warriors last week.
This means that Stean Pienaar comes in Maxwane at the right wing, while Ruan Delport, who will make his first URC start, will fill the void left by Venter.
On the bench, Darrien Landsberg returns to the fold as lock cover.
The Lions revealed that Reinhard Nothnagel underwent successful surgery on his cheekbone and will be out for a few months.
The lock, who captained the side earlier this season, had to be withdrawn from last weekend’s Challenge Cup fixture after he sustained the injury during the win over Racing 92.
Meanwhile, centre Henco van Wyk is on the mend from a knee injury suffered against Connacht in January.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Delport, 6 Jacobus Kriel, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger.
Replacements: 16 Morné Brandon, 17 Jean-Pierre Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Travis Gordon, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Andries Coetzee.
Date: Saturday, April 15
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 16.00 (15.00 Ireland & UK time; 14.00 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)
