Super Rugby: The Lions host the Cheetahs at Ellis Park
Last Updated: 11/07/14 8:16am
The Lions take on the Cheetahs at Ellis Park on Saturday with both sides looking to avoid bottom spot in the South Africa Conference.
Johan Ackermann’s Lions currently have a two-point lead over the Cheetahs going into the final game of the regular season.
The Lions won the opening game of the season against their rivals, sneaking home 21-20 and they will happily accept anything similar this around.
In team news, Elton Jantjies starts at fly-half in place of Marnitz Boshoff, Lionel Mapoe replaces Deon van Rensburg, on the wing while Andries Coetzee comes in at full-back having returned from injury.
In the forwards, Ackermann has opted for consistency, making no changes to the group after last weekend’s win over the Rebels.
For the Cheetahs, coach Naka Drotske has retained the same match-day team that beat the Sharks 27-20 last week, including the same bench.
The game sees three players reach the 50 Super Rugby caps milestone – Jantjies and Mapoe for the Lions, with Johann Sadie for the Cheetahs.
Lions: 15 A Coetzee, 14 Mapoe, 13 Hanekom, 12 Hollenbach, 11 Volmink, 10 Jantjies, 9 Cronje; 1 S van der Merwe, 2 R Coetzee, 3 Redelinghuys, 4 Mostert, 5 F van der Merwe, 6 Kriel, 7 Tecklenburg, 8 Whiteley.
Replacements: 16 van der Merwe, 17 Fourie, 18 Dreyer, 19 Britz, 20 Minnie, 21 de Klerk, 22 Boshoff, 23 Skosan.
Cheetahs: 15 le Roux, 14 Hendricks, 13 Sadie, 12 Benjamin, 11 Rhule, 10 Goosen, 9 Pretorius; 1 Nyakane, 2 Strauss, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 4 de Jager, 5 Uys, 6 van Jaarsveld, 7 Mohoje, 8 van der Walt.
Replacements:16 Caylib Oosthuizen, 17 de Bruin, 18 Wegner, 19 Cook , 20 Venter, 21 Venter, 22 Watts, 23 Daniller.
