Whiteley a late withdrawal from Lions team

Johannesburg - The Lions go into their Super Rugby clash against the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday without captain Warren Whiteley. 

The 30-year-old had been expected to make his return to the starting line-up, but he has not yet fully recovered from his knee injury and misses out once more. 

Franco Mostert will continue to captain the side in Whiteley's absence, and he will start on the side of the scrum once again in the No 7 jersey. 

Elsewhere, Nic Groom is set to make his Lions debut off the bench while Harold Vorster starts at No 12 with Springbok Rohan Janse van Rensburg on the bench. 

Kick-off on Friday is at 11:45 (SA time). 

Teams:

Waratahs

TBA

Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Franco Mostert (captain), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Nic Groom, 22, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Sylvian Mahuza