Lions up against sturdy Stormers

The Lions will face a sturdy DHL Stormers pack this coming Saturday April 19 on DHL Newlands.

The kick-off time is 17:05.

The tenth round of Vodacom Super Rugby kicked off on Friday April 18 with teams from down under opening this round of rugby.

The Lions will play their last match on South African soil before they leave for Australia and New Zealand. This will give the local franchise excellent time away from their home ground as preparations for their tour. But in the meantime they have to face bottom of the log contenders at home. This will prove to be no easy task, as the Lions will face a team who would like to get back on track.

Altogether five changes have been made by Alistair Coetzee. Springbok captain Jean de Villiers is back in the DHL Stormers line-up in one of five changes to the team.

De Villiers resumes the team captaincy from Duane Vermeulen and will line up at inside centre, with Damian de Allende shifting back to the right-wing – in place of the injured Kobus van Wyk – for the DHL Stormers’ second all-South African encounter of the season.

In other changes amongst the backs this week, Nic Groom and Demetri Catrakilis return to form a new-look halfback combination for the Stormers, with Peter Grant shifting to fullback and scrumhalf Louis Schreuder and fullback Jaco Taute dropping down to the bench.

The DHL Stormers pack remains unchanged from their previous clash – against the Waratahs in Cape Town two weeks ago – but there are a number of additions amongst the replacements.

Joining Schreuder and Taute on the bench this week are fit-again prop Pat Cilliers and lock Jurie van Vuuren – replacing the injured pair of Oli Kebble and Tazz Fuzani, respectively – while winger Devon Williams, the top try-scorer in the 2014 Vodacom Cup, comes into a Super Rugby match day squad for the first time in his fledgling career.

The Vodacom Bulls will face the Warratahs at 11:40 South African time, while the Toyota Cheetahs will play top of the log Cell C Sharks in the early match on Saturday at 15:00.

Other matches on Saturday: Chiefs vs Crusaders.