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Cape Town - The Lions have moved their Super Rugby warm-up matches against the Leopards away from Ellis Park due to concerns over the state of the pitch.
GALLERY: SA Super 15 kits unveiled!
Friday's matches will now take place at Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park. The first match kicks off at 17:00, with the second one starting at 19:00.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann earlier this week announced two 28-man sides to face the Leopards.
A rolling substitution system will be in place for both matches, as both games will act as opportunities to test and assess various combinations.
The reason for the move away from Ellis Park is over fears that the Ellis Park pitch would cut up too much, the Rugby365 website reports.
The pitch gets re-seeded twice a year and it was redone after the completion of the Currie Cup in October.
However, unfavourable weather conditions - when it rained more than expected in December - meant the grass' roots did not take as well as expected.
Lions team for match 1:
15 Kobus de Kock, 14 Ruhan Nel, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 11 Juan Swanepoel, 10 Brendon Hewitt, 9. Ricky Schroeder, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Thabo Mamojele 6 Thabo Mabuza, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Lourence Erasmus, 3 Nico du Plessis, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tyson Mulamba
Substitutes: 16 Mark Pretorius, 17 David Kounga, 18 Ruan Venter, 19 MB Lusaseni, 20 Stephan de Wit, 21 Stephan Vermuelen, 22 Jano Venter, 23 Guy Cronje, 24 Ruan van Rensburg, 25 Carlisle Nel, 26 Robert de Bruyn, 27 Caswell Khoza, 28 Hanco Deale
Lions team for match 2:
15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Vainon Willis, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Derick Minnie (captain), 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Corne Fourie, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe
Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Bees Roux, 19 Martin Muller, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Lambert Groenewald, 22 Ross Cronje, 23 Jaco van der Walt, 24 Lionel Mapoe, 25 Deon van Rensburg, 26 Deon Helberg, 27 Alwyn Hollenbach, 28 Chrysander Botha
GALLERY: SA Super 15 kits unveiled!
Friday's matches will now take place at Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park. The first match kicks off at 17:00, with the second one starting at 19:00.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann earlier this week announced two 28-man sides to face the Leopards.
A rolling substitution system will be in place for both matches, as both games will act as opportunities to test and assess various combinations.
The reason for the move away from Ellis Park is over fears that the Ellis Park pitch would cut up too much, the Rugby365 website reports.
The pitch gets re-seeded twice a year and it was redone after the completion of the Currie Cup in October.
However, unfavourable weather conditions - when it rained more than expected in December - meant the grass' roots did not take as well as expected.
Lions team for match 1:
15 Kobus de Kock, 14 Ruhan Nel, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 11 Juan Swanepoel, 10 Brendon Hewitt, 9. Ricky Schroeder, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Thabo Mamojele 6 Thabo Mabuza, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Lourence Erasmus, 3 Nico du Plessis, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tyson Mulamba
Substitutes: 16 Mark Pretorius, 17 David Kounga, 18 Ruan Venter, 19 MB Lusaseni, 20 Stephan de Wit, 21 Stephan Vermuelen, 22 Jano Venter, 23 Guy Cronje, 24 Ruan van Rensburg, 25 Carlisle Nel, 26 Robert de Bruyn, 27 Caswell Khoza, 28 Hanco Deale
Lions team for match 2:
15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Vainon Willis, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Derick Minnie (captain), 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Corne Fourie, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe
Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Bees Roux, 19 Martin Muller, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Lambert Groenewald, 22 Ross Cronje, 23 Jaco van der Walt, 24 Lionel Mapoe, 25 Deon van Rensburg, 26 Deon Helberg, 27 Alwyn Hollenbach, 28 Chrysander Botha
