Franco Mostert will lead out the Lions in the absence of Warren Whitelet when they host the Sunwolves in a Super Rugby match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Whiteley sustained a grade two PCL injury against the Blues last weekend and will be out for about a month..
Props Dylan Smith and Jacobie Adriaanse get a start in the front row, while Lourens Erasmus will partner with Marvin Orie at lock.
Kwagga Smith starts in the No 6 flank position and Len Massyn will pack down at No 8. Mostert will again start on the flank.
In the backline, Harold Vorster returns to the midfield which sees Rohan Janse van Rensburg move out to wing.
TEAMS FOR ELLIS PARK
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Franco Mostert (captain), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Shaun Reynolds
Sunwolves: 15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lemeki, 13 William Tupou, 12 Michael Little, 11 Hosea Saumaki, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 5 Wimpie van der Walt, 4 Kazuki Himeno, 3 Koo Ji-won, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Craig Millar.
Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Shintaro Ishihara, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Grant Hattingh, 20 Willie Britz, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Ryoto Nakamura, 23 Ryuji Noguchi.