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Cape Town - Brumbies centre Tevita Kuridrani will win his 100th Super Rugby cap for his side when they run out to face the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Meanwhile, team-mate Ben Alexander will rack up his 150th from the replacements bench.
Kuridrani will bring up the century from a starting position at inside centre with Alexander set to reach his milestone should he, as expected, make an appearance from amongst the finishers on the weekend.
Head coach Dan McKellar has named a new-look back-row with an intriguing blend of guile and power as Rob Valetini lines up at flank alongside returning duo David Pocock and Isi Naisarani, both sufficiently recovered from recent injury to be selected in the starting XV.
The front five remains the same as that which played against the Rebels at GIO Stadium with Scott Sio, Folau Fainga’a and Allan Alaalatoa appearing to be a settled frontrow, the trio augmented by the locking pair of Sam Carter and Rory Arnold who will pack down behind.
There’s changes in the backs however with Christian Lealiifano reverting to fly-half, forming an exciting looking partnership with young scrumhalf Joe Powell, while Kuridrani will be partnered by Kyle Godwin at inside centre.
Andrew Muirhead, Henry Speight and fullback Tom Banks will have licence to run in the back three and will be keen to make use of any openings that may come their way from what should be a solid platform provided by the forwards.
Teams:
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Franco Mostert (captain), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Dylan Smith
Substitutes: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Len Massyn, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Shaun Reynolds, 23 Ruan Combrinck
Brumbies
15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Andrew Muirhead, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Abel, 17 Nick Mayhew, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 Blake Enever, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Tom Cusack, 22 Matt Lucas, 23 Andrew Smith
