Maxwane, Viljoen start as Lions test combos

Rabz Maxwane will start his first game of the Preparation Series when the Lions travel to Cape Town to face the Stormers on Saturday.

Maxwane comes into a revamped backline where Dan Kriel, Stean Pienaar and Ross Cronje also get an opportunity to start.

EW Viljoen has recovered from a knee injury suffered in February and replaces Tiaan Swanepoel at fullback.

In the pack, Len Massyn and Sibusiso Sangweni join the in-form Vincent Tshituka in the back row. Reinhard Nothnagel partners Ruben Schoeman in the second row, while PJ Botha rotates with Jan-Henning Campher at hooker.

Lions – 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Elton Jantjies (c), 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Ruan Dreyer.
Subs: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Fred Zeilinga, 23 Burger Odendaal.

Photo: Gallo Images