Gianni Lombard and Sanele Nohamba's stellar performances against the Dragons have earned them another crack in the starting line-up in Friday's clash against Cardiff.
The Lions go in search of another United Rugby Championship (URC) win on the road and have opted to stay with the Lombard/Nohamba partnership ahead of the more established Jordan Hendrikse/Morne van den Berg halfback combination.
Lombard and Nohamba seemed to gel from the outset as the Lions downed the Dragons 28-27 in Swansea last weekend.
Elsewhere, though, the Lions have made two changes in the starting team with centre Henco van Wyk and lock Pieter Jansen van Vuren getting the nod.
The Gauteng team, who have won their last two matches on Welsh soil, if you factor in their final game of last season and will fancy their chances of a positive result in the Welsh capital.
Cardiff have been wildly inconsistent, a trait that has followed them well beyond the start of this season. They upset Munster in the opening round of the competition but were comprehensively beaten 52-24 by Glasgow Warriors last weekend.
Last season Cardiff won just seven of their 18 league matches in the competition. Lions defence coach Jaque Fourie, however, holds the view Cardiff will present a different challenge from the one they faced in Swansea last weekend.
“The Welsh sides pride themselves with big forward packs coupled with backline players who enjoy throwing the ball around,” explained Fourie.
“Cardiff Rugby will be no different this Friday as I’m sure they will come with a heavy pack and nippy backline players who can take the ball wide. In saying that, we have done our homework on them and prepared well in the week.”
Lions team to play Cardiff: Andries Coetzee; Edwill van der Merwe, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw, Quan Horn; Gianni Lombard, Sanele Nohamba; Francke Horn, Emmanuel Tshituka, Sibusiso Sangweni; Reinhard Nothnagel (captain), Pieter Jansen van Vuren; Ruan Dreyer, PJ Botha, Sti Sithole. Substitutes: Jaco Visagie, JP Smith, Ruan Smith, Ruan Venter, Ruhan Straeuli; Morne van den Berg, Jordan Hendrikse, Zander du Plessis.
