The Lions team is bringing two Springboks players, Morne van den Bergh and Juan Horne, back into the squad for the second round of the United Rugby Championship against Ospreys, which will take place at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Both players participated in last week's Mandela Challenge Plate match against Australia in Perth and are included in the Lions' bench. Coach Ivan van Riezen made several changes to his starting lineup of 23 players after the team's triumph over defending champions Leinster with a score of 27:26 at Ellis Park last week.
UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP
There was a reshuffle in the second row trio: Ciba Coma replaced Batho Hlekani, and Jacy Pretorius took the position at number 6. Ciba Mashashe moved to the bench. Henko van Wyk is unavailable due to a head injury sustained early in the victory over Leinster, so Ethan Adams replaced him in the starting fifteen.
Lions defensive coordinator, Jake Fury, believes the team still has much to improve despite the impressive first-round win. The former Springbok lock stated: 'We still had a lot of work to do after last Saturday's match against Leinster. We needed to reset because we know Ospreys will present a different challenge, but we had a good preparation week, and we are happy with what lies ahead.'
Ospreys coach Mark Jones expects the Welsh side to demonstrate physical power again, as they heavily pressured the Sharks in their debut match. Fury noted: 'Ospreys are a tough team, whether you play them at home or away. They have a large group of forwards; they work well in mauls and scrums. Against the Sharks, we saw how this aspect of their game improved. They never give up; they play 80 minutes, so we need to be clinical and put pressure on them with both the ball and without it.'
The match start time at Ellis Park is scheduled for 13:45. The Lions' declared players are: Boeta Chamberlain (15), Kelly Mpeku (14), Ethan Adams (13), Richard Kriel (12), Erich Kroonje (11), Chris Smith (10), Nico Stein (9), Boan Winter (1), P.J. Botha (2), Sebastian Lombard (3), Etienne Oosthuizen (4), Ruan Delport (5), Jacy Pretorius (6), Ciba Coma (7), Franke Horn (8, captain). Reserves: Morne Brandon (16), S.J. Kotze (17), R.F. Schuman (18), Hyron Andrews (19), Dylan Schoblom (20), Ciba Mashashe (21), Morne van den Bergh (22), Juan Horne (23).