The Ospreys go in search of their first win in the BKT United Rugby Championship in Johannesburg on Saturday 3 October and have Wales No 10 Dan Edwards back in the starting XV.
Edwards missed the opening day defeat to the Sharks in Durban but links up with Kieran Hardy at half-back in a side showing 12 changes in personnel from the side beaten 41-24 last weekend.
Only former Wallaby flanker Liam Wright, full back Iestyn Hopkins and wing Tom Rogers survive. Wright is given the co-captaincy duties in tandem with wing Keelan Giles.
Coming into the side along with half-backs Edwards and Hardy are Wales prop Gareth Thomas, hooker Efan Daniel and tight head Rhys Henry. Huw Sutton and Ryan Smith form a new second row and Harri Deaves and Morgan Morse join Wright in the back row.
Behind the scrum Keiran Williams and Evardi Boshoff pair up in midfield for a game against a Lions side that kicked off their campaign with a home win over a 27-26 home win over Leinster. They only lost one game at home last season
It was always the plan to give everyone a game in these two games. The boys worked very hard over the summer, and we’ve got good competition for places,
“They have found a good balance between their Springbok talent and their young talent and have a threat all round. Their set piece has always been strong and they can play the game in any way – they are a formidable opponent.
“Last week we learned that every moment counts against South African teams. Our scrum defence has been good in recent season and we conceded two from that area.
“They got three tries up on us pretty early, but after that I saw how tough a bunch our players are. We hit back, had a chance to get even, we stayed connected and scored four tries to pick up a bonus point.”
The Lions hold the bragging rights over the Ospreys having fallen to only one defeat in their previous five league meetings, which was in 2024 in Swansea.
TEAMS
Lions: Boeta Chamberlain; Kelly Mpeku, Ethan Adams, Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje; Chris Smith, Nico Steyn; Boan Venter, PJ Botha, Sebastian Lombard, Etienne Oosthuizen, Ruan Delport, JC Pretorius, Siba Qoma, Francke Horne (captain)
Reps: Morne Brandon, SJ Kotze, RF Schoeman, Hyron Andrews, Dylan Sjoblom, Siba Mahashe, Morne van den Berg, Quan HornOspreys: Iestyn Hopkins; Tom Rogers, Evardi Boshoff, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles (co-captain); Dan Edwards, Kieran Hardy; Gareth Thomas, Efan Daniel, Rhys Henry, Huw Sutton, Ryan Smith, Liam Wright (co-captain), Harri Deaves, Morgan Morse
Reps: Lewis Lloyd, Cam Jones, Ben Warren, Rhys Davies, Ross Moriarty, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Lawson Creighton, Luke Morgan