Lions revamp loose trio

Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann has named a revamped loose trio in the side to take on Western Province in a top-of-the-table Currie Cup match at Newlands on Saturday.

Willie Britz and Warwick Tecklenburg move up into the starting side, joining Derick Minnie in the loose trio.

Britz starts at No.8 and Tecklenburg takes over the No.7 jersey from Minnie - who moves to No.6, with Jaco Kriel dropping down to the replacement bench.

Minnie will captain the team in the absence of regular skipper Warren Whitely, who was called up to the Springbok squad in place of the injured Willem Alberts.

Meanwhile in the backline, Ackermann opted for consistency - selecting the same formation which beat the Eastern Province Kings 60-19 at Ellis Park last Saturday.

Ackermann, speaking to rugby365 earlier in the week, said he would consider seasoned backs Courtnall Skosan and Alwyn Hollenbach - after the duo recovered from their injuries.

However, he opted to retain Under-20 star Harold Vorster, who did really well in his first two Currie Cup games.

Golden Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Ruan Combrinck, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Derick Minnie (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.

Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Martin Muller, 19 Jaco Kriel, 20 Guy Cronjé, 21 Albertus Smith, 22 Howard Mnisi.

Date: Saturday, August 23

Venue: Newlands, Cape Town

Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)

Referee: Craig Joubert

Assistant referees: Christie du Preez, Marc van Zyl

TMO: Deon van Blommestein