Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen's men will be hoping to halt the high-flying Sharks who are enjoying a new lease on life after a change in coaching personnel. After a gutsy performance against the Stormers a fortnight ago, the Joburg franchise will take a few positives from that showing.
Assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher earlier this stressed the importance of sticking to team processes, while acknowledging the talent the Sharks possess in their cage.
"We want everything to be process-driven," he said.
"That's attack, defence and kicking game. If you look at the Sharks since JP took over, they are a team that is on the up. We can see the improved effort, the belief and we can see it in the way they play, said the side's attack guru.
"We know it's going to be a tough battle on Saturday, but we are excited. If you look at the names they have and the experience in that squad, it's exciting because there are a lot of things we've learned within our own team," he concluded.
A couple of forced changes to the Francke Horn-led Lions team ahead of Saturday, which sees locks Darrien Landsberg and Reinhard Nothnagel miss out due to shoulder and concussion setbacks, respectively, as well as young prop SJ Kotze, who will remain home. Eddie Davids continues to take his opportunities in the front row with RF Schoeman and Conrad van Vuuren acting as cover.
Other exciting additions to the bench are the hard-running Renzo du Plessis, as well talented Junior Springbok halfback Haasiem Pead.
The Lions currently occupy ninth spot in the current URC standings, and a win against JP Pietersen's men could see them regain the spot in the Top 8. Kick off at Hollywoodbets Kings Park is at 15:30 on Saturday.
Lions - 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Siba Qoma, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Richard Kriel.
Evan Roos expects the usual level of intensity when the Stormers host the Bulls in Saturday's north-south URC derby, but says the focus remains firmly on team standards rather than individual battles.
The Sharks have named three changes to their starting XV for Saturday's United Rugby Championship (URC) Round Nine clash against the Lions at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban.
Vodacom Bulls new attack coach Neil de Bruin says he has a spiritual bond with head coach Johan Ackermann and is looking forward to helping turn the team's fortunes around.
Boan Venter is excited about returning to South Africa next year, with the chance to be closer to family and friends being a major motivator.
