Marius Louw to captain Lions in milestone 50th franchise appearance

Captain Marius Louw will celebrate his 50th franchise appearance for the Johannesburg-based team, with Ruan Delport stepping in at lock to replace the injured Reinhardt Nothnagel.

Morgan Naude returns to the matchday squad, taking a spot on the bench after recovering from an arm injury sustained in a Challenge Cup match against the Ospreys.

Sanele Nohamba will cover both scrumhalf and flyhalf positions in a six-two bench split favoring the forwards, as Francis gets a chance to show what he can do in the No 10 jersey.

Lions: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Maruis Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 WJ Steenkamp, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman.

Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Sanele Nohamba, 23 Manny Rass.

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