Lions v Brumbies: Teams

Lions coach Eugene Eloff has made two changes to his team, both amongst the loose forwards, for Saturday's must-win match against the Brumbies in Johannesburg.

Cobus Grobelaar leads an under-pressure side against the Australian visitors, who arrive in South Africa full of confidence after their 21-11 derby win over local rivals, the Waratahs in Canberra last weekend.

The Lions back-line remains intact from the team that played the Stormers last weekend in Cape Town.

Amongst the forwards, Ernst Joubert replaces Willem Alberts at number eight and America import Todd Clever, who has had a big impact so far, gets a start in the number seven jersey in the only two changes to the starting XV.

The home side will look to improve on last week's second half performance after they started the game against the Stormers so well but dropped off the pace in the second period.

Alexander start

The Brumbies travel to Johannesburg having made three changes to their starting forward pack from the side which beat the Waratahs.

Back row utility Julian Salvi replaces injured captain Stephen Hoiles at No.8, after Hoiles tore his medial ligament during the derby win.

Hoiles is expected to be sidelined between three and six weeks with a replacement captain to be decided upon later this week.

The Brumbies front row has also been reconfigured with tighthead prop Guy Shepherdson recovering from a stomach infection that ruled him out of the Waratahs clash, while loosehead prop Ben Alexander will make his first start in a Super 14 fixture against the Lions.

Lock/back row forward Shawn Mackay is the fourth change to the Brumbies' line-up and is set to make his Super 14 debut after being named on the bench.

The Brumbies' backline remains intact with Tyrone Smith and Stirling Mortlock to continue their midfield partnership.

Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Barry Goodes, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Andre Pretorius, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (C), 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 2 Willie Wepener,1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Hans van Dyk, 17 Gert Muller, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Earl Rose, 22 Shandre Frolick.

Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Joshua Holmes, 8 Julian Salvi, 7 George Smith, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Guy Shepherson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Nic Henderson, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Shawn Mackay, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Clyde Rathbone.