Johannesburg - Scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba will get a starting opportunity for the Lions on Saturday when they take on Western Province in the Currie Cup at Ellis Park (kick-off 5pm).
The 23-year-old will make his second Currie Cup appearance for the Johannesburg side since joining them from Durban in April.
With Jordan Hendrikse with the Springbok Sevens side for the London leg of the World Sevens Series, Tiaan Swanepoel takes over at flyhalf, with James Tedder providing cover on the bench.
In the front row, hooker Morne Brandon gets a starting opportunity, with his replacement, PJ Botha set to bring some reinforcement from the bench.
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With both the Lions and Province - in the seventh and sixth positions on the log, respectively - merely playing for respect as neither team have a chance of making the semi-finals, Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said they’re looking to finish the game well.
“We’ve kept a fairly consistent approach for Saturday’s clash against Western Province,” he said.
“Finishing strong as a franchise has been our theme over the past two weeks. Last Saturday’s win, albeit in a different competition, instilled a huge amount of confidence within the group. It’s the kind of momentum we’ll be taking into tomorrow’s game,” he concluded.
Lions team: 15 Quan Horn 14 Stean Pienaar 13 Henco Van Wyk 12 Matt More 11 Edwill van der Merwe 10 Tiaan Swanepoel 9 Sanele Nohamba 8 Francke Horn 7 Emmanual Tshituka 6 Sibusiso Sangweni 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (captain) 4 Ruben Schoeman 3 Ruan Dreyer 2 Morne Brandon 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Botha 17 Sti Sithole 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye 19 PJ Steenkamp 20 Jarod Cairns 21 Morne Van den Berg 22 Manuel Rass 23 James Tedder