Lions back their best for Stormers trip

The Lions named a totally new side for their Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the DHL Stormers on Saturday, with none of the 15 starters having been in the starting line-up in their loss against Newcastle Falcons in the EPCR Challenge Cup last Sunday.

The only players who were involved in the Newcastle loss that have been retained are hooker PJ Botha, who returned from injury and will start this game, while Siba Qoma’s strong showing gets him a spot on the bench. The others who played against Newcastle and are in the match day 23 are Richard Kriel, Nico Steyn, Dylan Sjoblom, Eddie Davids and Dylan Sjoblom.

Erich Cronje also comes into the midfield in the place of Henco van Wyk, while the rest of the side is pretty much what the Lions could call their strongest line-up.

It includes their Springboks Quan Horn, Morne van den Berg, Ruan Venter and Asenathi Ntlabakanye, while the side will be captained by Francke Horn.

Lions: Quan Horn; Kelly Mpeku, Erich Cronje, Bronson Mills, Eduan Keyter; Chris Smith, Morne van den Berg; Francke Horn (captain), Ruan Venter, Jarod Cairns, Reinhard Nothnagel, Etienne Oosthuizen, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, PJ Botha, SJ Kotze.

Replacements: Franco Marais, Eddie Davids, RF Schoeman, Dylan Schoblom, Darrien Landsberg, Siba Qoma, Nico Steyn, Richard Kriel.