The Emirates Lions qualified for the first playoff round by finishing in fourth place in their EPCR Challenge Cup pool after winning two of their four matches. They will take the field first against Edinburgh in London on Friday at 21:00 (SA Time).
Head coach Ivan van Rooyen made five changes to the starting line-up that was on the receiving end of a 42-00 defeat against the Glasgow Warriors in Scotland.
Springbok Morne van den Berg returns to the starting XV after joining the squad last week in Glasgow. Centre Rynhardt Jonker replaces Marius Louw at inside center, with the latter providing impact from the bench. Amongst the forwards, SJ Kotze, Franco Marais and Jarod Cairns all enjoy starts against Sean Everitt's Edinburgh.
On the bench Jaco Visagie and Izan Esterhuizen are in line for game time for the first time on this tour.
Emirates Lions – 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Franco Marais, 1 SJ Kotze. Bench: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Izan Esterhuizen, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 nico Steyn, 23 Marius Louw.
