Lions make 3 changes for vital Leinster battle: 'I wouldn't throw us out of the bus just yet'

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen has made a few tweaks to his side for Saturday's URC clash against log leaders Leinster at Ellis Park.

There are three changes to the Lions starting XV that lost 31-21 away to Glasgow Warriors in the Champions Cup quarter-finals last weekend.

Young gun Rhynardt Rijnsburger gets his first start of the season at loosehead prop, with JP Smith moving to the bench. Ruan Delport also slots in for the injured Ruan Venter in the No 7 jersey, while Stean Pienaar comes in for Rabz Maxwane at right wing.

Both Venter and Maxwane suffered head knocks in last week's game and have been rested as a precaution.

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The Lions (38 points) are 11th on the URC standings and still in with an outside chance of making the quarter-finals. They are three points behind the Sharks, who lie eighth and currently occupying the final quarter-final spot.

"The mood in the camp has been great and you can see it in the way that we have been playing over the past few games," Lions skipper Marius Louw said.

"We're not out of the competition completely so I wouldn't necessarily throw us out of the bus just yet. In essence, we'll do what we can, as best as we can and for as long as we can and see how that goes."

Saturday's clash at Ellis Park kicks off at 16:00. As part of a double-header of URC action, the Bulls also tackle Zebre at the same ground at 13:00.

Next weekend, the four teams will move to Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria where the Lions will tackle Zebre and the Bulls duel Leinster.

Lions team:

15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan