Rose left on the bench

Bok hopeful Earl Rose will have to settle for a place on the Golden Lions bench for the clash against the British and Irish Lions.

Bok hopeful fails to make the starting XV for the Golden Lions

Springbok hopeful Earl Rose will have to settle for a place on the Golden Lions bench for Wednesday's clash against the British and Irish Lions in Johannesburg. Both Rose and scrum-half Jano Vermaak have been released from the South African training squad to face the tourists. South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has been vocal in his criticism of the Lions selection this season, accusing former coach Eugene Eloff of not giving Rose enough opportunities. However the side is very close to the team that played most of the Super 14 with new Golden Lions coach Hans Coetzeep preferring to keep Louis Ludik at full-back and Springbok André Pretorius at fly-half in the starting XV. Regular Super 14 captain Cobus Grobbelaar is back at No.6 after a prolonged injury lay-off - however Springboks Jannes Labuschagne, Heinke van der Merwe and Henno Mentz are among those players missing through injury. Despite the tourists failing to impress against a Royal XV in their opening match, Grobbelaar is expecting a much different performance. "I think they'll perform better," said Grobbelaar. "They're now more used to the altitude and the conditions and we're expecting a totally different game." Golden Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jannie Boshoff, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Dusty Noble, 10 André Pretorius, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Brad Mockford, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Lawrence Sephaka.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reyneke, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Ernst Joubert, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Earl Rose.