Morne van den Berg returns to boost Lions for Challenge Cup playoff

Morne van den Berg returns to boost Lions for Challenge Cup playoff

The Lions welcome back Springbok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg for their all-important Challenge Cup Round of 16 clash against Edinburgh in Scotland on Friday night.

The Gauteng outfit are coming off a string of three straight losses in the URC and will be desperate to bounce back and stay alive in the European competition, and the return of Van Den Berg in the No 9 jersey for Nico Steyn is sure to stand them in good stead.

It will not be easy away from home, particularly after last weekend's ugly 42-0 thrashing at the hands of Glasgow Warriors, although they do expect better conditions this time around. Last weekend, the team had to play in gale-force winds which threw them off their game.

Other changes to the team include inside centre Rynhardt Jonker coming into the side in place of Marius Louw, who drops down to the replacement bench.

There are changes amongst the forwards too, with prop SJ Kotze, hooker Franco Marais and flanker Jarod Cairns all elevated to the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, Jaco Visagie and Izan Esterhuizen are set to feature for the first time on their European tour after being named on the replacements bench.

Lions - 15 Quan Horn 14 Richard Kriel 13 Manuel Rass 12 Rynhardt Jonker 11 Edwill van der Merwe 10 Gianni Lombard 9 Morné van den Berg 8 Francke Horn (captain) 7 Ruan Venter 6 Jarod Cairns 5 Darrien Landsberg 4 Ruben Schoeman 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye 2 Franco Marais 1 SJ Kotze.

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie 17 Juan Schoeman 18 RF Schoeman 19 Izan Esterhuizen 20 Sibabalo Qoma 21 Nico Steyn 22 JC Pretorius 23 Marius Louw.

READ MORE: Challenge Cup: Sharks defence coach previews knockout tie against Lyon