Flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse will earn a 50th Lions cap in international rugby and run out in the unfamiliar position of fullback for his teams United Rugby Championship match against defending champions, Munster, at Ellis Park on Saturday (kick-off 5pm).
Hendrikse takes over the No 15 jersey from the injured Quan Horn (shoulder), while the Lions will also be without key centre Henco van Wyk, whose season is over following surgery on his knee.
Sanele Nohamba, who has been one of the Lions finds this season, is back in the flyhalf position for the match against the team that beat the Bulls at Loftus last weekend.
Return of Venter, LombardThe Lions go into the game on the back of a big win against Leinster to keep alive their hopes of finishing the round robin stage in the top eight for a place in the URC quarter-finals.
Ruan Venter and Gianni Lombard are also back in the team after injury layoffs.
Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys cautioned earlier this week that while their Irish opponents boast a host of internationals, focus should not be placed on that too much but rather on his teams processes ahead of Saturdays match.
For us to have success this weekend we will have to focus on ourselves, focus on our processes and not allow Munsters star power to distract us. If you focus too much on other things, you tend to forget what you need to do so its vitally important that we concentrate on us while being aware of what we will be up against, he said.
Lions: Jordan Hendrikse, Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Marius Louw (capt), Edwill van der Merwe, Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg, Francke Horn, Emmanuel Tshituka, JC Pretorius, Ruan Delport, Willem Alberts, Ruan Dreyer, Jaco Visagie, Morgan Naude. Bench: PJ Botha, JP Smith, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Reinhard Nothnagel, Ruan Venter, Sibusiso Sangweni, Nico Steyn, Gianni Lombard
