Emirates Lions will have their work cut out against the in-form team of Australia, the Rebels, when they meet them at home on Saturday.
The Rebels are one of the front runners in the Vodacom Super Rugby log and has arrived in South Africa with good wins that they recorded over the past few weeks.
The Lions and Rebels will have a face-off at Emirates Airlines Park on March 16. The match starts at 3.05pm.
Head coach Swys de Bruin made some interesting changes to his team, while some of his key players are back after injury.
The team shows four changes in the starting team, two at the back as well as up front.
The two changes to the Highvelders’ back three sees Tyrone Green come in for Andries Coetzee and Ruan Combrinck for Sylvian Mahuza, while there is a fresh lock combination in Stephan Lewies and fit-again Marvin Orie, who slot in for Ryno Hattingh and Ruan Vermaak respectively.
Rebels coach Dave Wessels has made five changes to the team that defeated the Brumbies last Friday, in Melbourne. They are unbeaten after three outings and are top of the Australian conference.
This will be the fifth meeting between the teams, with the Johannesburg team prevailing in each of their four prior clashes. The Highvelders have won their last four matches at home against overseas teams, scoring 40 points or more on each occasion.
The Rebels, on the other hand, head into the fixture fresh off victories in their last three games and a fourth consecutive win would mark a record for the Melbourne franchise.
Elton Jantjies (Emirate Lions), Quade Cooper (Rebels) and Will Genia (Rebels) have each made four try assists in Vodacom Super Rugby 2019, more than any other players in the competition.
Refreshed DHL Stormers look to regain momentum
DHL Stormers coach Robbie Fleck made four changes to his side for their home clash on Friday evening against the Jaguares, where the side will look to maintain their winning momentum after toppling the Cell C Sharks in their previous outing two weeks ago.
Steven Kitshoff, Scarra Ntubeni and Juarno Augustus will all make their first starts of the season as Fleck made several rotations, while the only change in the backline sees Dillyn Leyds come in at fullback.
Utility forward Cobus Wiese, meanwhile, returns from injury and will feature among the replacements in what marks the team’s last home clash before a four-week tour of Australasia.
The Jaguares picked up a 25-14 win in the last meeting between the sides, which ended a three-game losing streak against the Capetonians.
Siya Kolisi’s team, who come off back-to-back wins, have won seven of their last nine outings on home turf.
In stark contrast, the South Americans, who made wholesale changes to their team, will be desperate to snap a worrying four-game losing run on the road, which has seen them concede more than 40 points on three occasions during that time.
The Vodacom Bulls, Cell C Sharks and Blues all have byes this weekend.
Other Round 5 matches this weekend:
March 16
6.15am: Sunwolves vs Reds, Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo.
8.35am: Highlanders vs Crusaders, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin.
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