URC: Jaco Visagie to lead Lions out to face Connacht

Head coach Ivan van Rooyen has taken a different approach to this weekend's crucial fixture by including King Edward VII old boy Bronson Mills at inside centre. Mills, who makes his international club debut, partners the returning Henco van Wyk in the midfield in what is a new-look centre combination. 

Also included on the right wing is Richard Kriel who missed out last week against Benetton due to a niggle picked at training.

The loose trio sees Jarod Cairns come in for the injured Francke Horn, who sustained a knee injury in Round 15. The explosive Renzo du Plessis secures a starting berth with star poacher JC Pretorius completing the back row.

A notable inclusion on the bench is that of Lubabalo Dobela, who is yet to make his debut for the Lions. Izan Esterhuizen and Darrien Landsberg are some of the impact players on the bench.

Earlier this week, Lions scrum guru Julian Redelinghuys spoke about the considerable amount of pressure towards the playoffs, especially after last week's 42-31 loss to the Italians.

"We have spoken a lot about pressure over the past few weeks," said Redelinghuys.

"Pressure can numb you. It can make you retreat into yourself, or you can use it as a privilege.

"We are playing the game we love and working with people we care for. This sport isn't played to be fun or nice, it's played to be won and make the playoffs. We want to make that big step up collectively and we believe our best rugby is yet to be played."

Kick-off is at 16:00.

Lions - 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Renzo du Plessis, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie (c), 1 Morgan Naude.

Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Lubabalo Dobela, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.