Warren Whiteley has been cleared to start at No 8 for the Lions' quarter-final against the Crusaders at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Whiteley suffered a shoulder injury during the Springboks' third Test win against Ireland and was initially ruled out for the rest of the Super Rugby season.

However, he has made a quicker than expected recovery and will start on Saturday after passing a late fitness test.

Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnal Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylon Smith.
Subs: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Ruan Ackermann, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Jaco van der Walt/Sylvian Mahuza.

Super Rugby teams (Quarter-finals)

Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images