Van der Linde starts for Lions

Johannesburg - Rugby World Cup prop CJ van der Linde has been selected for the Golden Lions’ starting side for their Absa Currie Cup semi-final against Western Province on Saturday, and his team-mate in New Zealand, Butch James, has been announced as a replacement for the match at Coca-Cola Park.

While the inclusion in the match-22 of James, who has previous playing and training experience with the Lions, was expected the selection of Van der Linde - a recent acquisition from Western Province without much training time with the Lions - would surprise some.

His presence is, however, a blessing for Lions coach John Mitchell. The very experienced and versatile prop, who can play either side of the scrum, comes in for stalwart Lions loosehead JC Janse van Rensburg who has a hamstring problem.

The rest of the side is as expected, with the many changes from last weekend’s losing side against the Sharks not surprising after Mitchell gave some of his borderline players a run in Durban to ensure that they have game time behind them should they be required for the play-offs.

There are eight players who did not start against the Sharks in the starting side for Saturday and there is also the switch of Michael Rhodes, who has lately been picked as lock for the Lions. He moves back to flank after the return of Wikus van Heerden who was side-lined with a knee injury and only returned against the Sharks. Van Heerden will partner returning Franco van der Merwe in the second row.

Rhodes will play at No 7 with Derick Minnie taking over the fetching role from Cobus Grobbelaar, who is still troubled by the rib injury sustained when he scored a try against the Free State Cheetahs three weeks ago in a drawn league fixture. Grobbelaar has been bracketed on the bench with Jaco Kriel.

Teams:

Golden Lions:
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Doppies la Grange, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Joshua Strauss (captain), 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Wikus van Heerden, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 CJ Van der Linde

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Warren Whiteley, 19 Cobus Grobbelaar/Jaco Kriel, 20 Butch James, 21 Dylan Des Fountain, 22 James Kamana

Western Province:
15  Gio Aplon, 14 JJ Engelbrecht, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean De Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 JC Kritzinger

Substitutes: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Tertius Daniller, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Conrad Jantjes