Cape Town - The Lions have named their side for Saturday's Super Rugby clash against the Stormers at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Register your interest for the British & Irish Lions tickets in South Africa 2021
Prop Dylan Smith will earn his 50th cap while the only change to the starting line-up sees former Junior Springbok Manuel Rass start at No 13 in place of Duncan Matthews.
The big news, though, is that Springbok bruiser Willem Alberts has been named on the bench.
Alberts, who has arrived from Stade Francais in France, was not expected to feature as he continues his recovery from a bicep injury.
But he was deemed fit enough to be included among the substitutes named by coach Ivan van Rooyen on Thursday.
Smith, meanwhile, was delighted to have reached 50 caps.
"This milestone represents a lot of hard work for me. I have come through a few injuries and set-backs over the years and I am just grateful to have got to 50 caps for the Lions," Smith said ahead of this game.
Elton Jantjies continues as captain while there is still no place in the squad for Springbok scrumhalf Ross Cronje, who continues his comeback from injury by being included in a Lions XV that will take on a Bulls XV as the curtain raiser before the Super Rugby match.
Kick-off on Saturday is at 15:05.
Teams:
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Tyrone Green, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies (captain), 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Pieter Jansen, 1 Dylan Smith
Substitutes: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Dillon Smit, 23 Wandisile Simelane
Stormers
TBA
- Compiled by Lloyd Burnard
