Lions v Brumbies: Teams

Stephen Moore will captain Brumbies in place of the injured Ben Mowen

John Mitchell: Two changes ahead of Brumbies visit

Lions coach John Mitchell has made two changes to his starting XV for Friday's Super Rugby clash with the Brumbies in Johannesburg.

Hendrik Roodt returns to lock the scrum with the durable Franco van der Merwe while Lionel Mapoe gets his first start of the season in place of James Kamana on the wing.

On the bench, former Western Province Under-21s forward Grant Hattingh has been announced as lock replacement. He will make his debut for the Lions should he be called onto the field.

Experienced utility back Michael Killian, who excelled on the wing last year, is also back in the matchday 22 after recovering from a troublesome hamstring that affected his season.

For Brumbies, Stephen Moore will take over the captaincy reins from usual skipper Ben Mowen, who has been ruled out of the trip to Johannesburg with a neck injury.

Dan Palmer has also been rested to recover from several niggling injuries, pushing Ben Alexander to tighthead, while Ruaidhri Murphy gets his second run-on start of the season at the other side of the scrum.

Peter Kimlin has been brought in at blindside flanker for Mowen, while lock Leon Power has been called up in the second row at the expense of Sam Carter who will start from the bench.

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Lionel Mapoe, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Joshua Strauss (c), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Doppies le Roux, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Butch James, 22 Michael Killian.

Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Fotu Auelua, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Leon Power, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Ben Alexander, 3 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Ruaidhri Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Hegarty, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sam Carter, 19 Ita Vaea, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Robbie Coleman, 22 Tevita Kuridrani.

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