Super Rugby: Lions v Sharks preview
Last Updated: 11/04/14 1:36pm
The Lions have made one change for the visit of the Sharks to Ellis Park on Saturday as they attempt to bounce back from last week's defeat at the same venue to the Crusaders.
That result ended the Lions' perfect home record in 2014 but head coach Johan Ackermann has kept faith in his players, making just one change to the starting XV.
Derick Minnie replaces Jaco Kriel at blindside flanker, while Robbie Coetzee has recovered from injury and joins Kriel on the bench, which also includes Alwyn Hollenbach.
The Sharks, coming off a bye week, have named the same starting XV from those on duty in 32-10 victory over the Waratahs on March 29.
Paul Jordaan returns from injury on the bench.
'Different challenge'
"The Lions' forward pack has been outstanding, I think Johan Ackermann has done a fantastic job," said Sharks director of rugby Jake White.
"He talks about it often and he's right, he has an inexperienced front row that took on a team like the Auckland Blues , who have three All Blacks playing, and next week they're up against a Reds' side with three Wallabies playing there.
"Their front row was supposedly young players who've come along and staked a claim. That's just three players in a whole team, but it epitomises everybody in that group: no-namers who have really stuck their hands up and played above themselves.
"And then they have a lot of pace in the backline and a lot of skills, and the fact that Elton Jantjies, a Springbok, isn't in their starting line-up proves that they're obviously quite comfortable with the way they're playing. Last time we played them, Elton started against us. Now he's not in the mix, so it will be a completely different challenge for us."
Lions: 15 Coetzee, 14 Van Rensburg, 13 Mapoe, 12 Watermeyer, 11 Skosan, 10 Boshoff, 9 De Klerk; 1 Van der Merwe, 2 Wepender, 3 Redelinghuys, 4 Mostert, 5 Muller, 6 Minnie, 7 Britz, 8 Whiteley (capt)
Replacements: 16 Coetzee, 17 Fourie, 18 Dreyer, 19 Lusaseni, 20 Kriel, 21 Cronje, 22 Jantjies, 23 Hollenbach
Sharks: 15 Mvovo, 14 Ndungane, 13 Sithole, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Pietersen, 10 Zeilinga, 9 McLeod; 1 Mtawarira 2 Bismarck du Plessis (capt), 3 Janie du Plessis, 4 Alberts, 5 Lewies, 6 Coetzee, 7 Deysel, 8 Kankowski
Replacements: 16 Cooper, 17 Chadwick, 18 Adriaanse, 19 Oosthuizen, 20 Daniel, 21 Ungerer, 22 Jordaan, 23 Marais
