Lions change five for Brumbies

Editor

Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has made five changes to his starting XV to face the Brumbies in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Ackermann has made two changes to his pack with Martin Muller starting at lock and Robert Kruger comes into the run-on side on the blindside flank.

The backline sees three personnel changes with Faf de Klerk starting at scrum-half, Elton Jantjies returning to the starting flyhalf berth and Lionel Mapoe, having fully recovered from injury, starting on the right wing.

As a result, Ruan Combrinck will shift to left wing.

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Ruan Combrinck, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Robert Kruger, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 MB Lusaseni, 20 Warwick Tecklenburg, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Howard Mnisi.

Date: Saturday, May 16
Venue: Emirates Airlines Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17:05 local (01:05 AEST, 03:05 NZST, 15:05 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Johan Greeff