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Cape Town - Lions coach Swys de Bruin is as excited as anyone to see Aphiwe Dyantyi shift into the midfield for Saturday's clash against the Brumbies.
The 23-year-old Dyantyi has been one of the stars of the competition so far this year`, but all of his five tries have come from the wing.
This weekend, though, he will partner Rohan Janse van Rensburg in a new-look centre pairing that gives the Lions a feeling of all-out attack in their backline.
De Bruin has backed Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe in his midfield for most of the season so far, but he is looking forward to seeing what Dyantyi can offer in a more direct channel.
"We're resting Lionel. He's got a bit of a groin strain that we nursed on tour and Harold has a bit of 'flu," De Bruin explained.
"Aphiwe has played a lot at No 13 in his life and he prefers it, in fact.
"We want to score tries and have a go and they (Janse van Rensburg and Dyantyi) like to take it forward."
De Bruin was hopeful that Dyantyi could be even more dangerous at centre than he has been on the wing.
"I hope so. He is a good player and he has massive talents. The plan is to make sure that he carries enough ball," the coach said.
Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:15.
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
