Jaco van der Walt will start at fullback in one of five changes to the Lions team facing the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday. 

Coach Johan Ackermann was forced to make a host of changes after his side was hit with injuries following their historic 36-32 win over the Chiefs in Hamilton last week.

In a straight swap, Van der Walt comes in for Andries Coetzee, who drops to the bench. In an all-new centre pairing, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Howard Mnisi start in tandem in the absence of Lionel Mapoe and Harold Vorster, who both returned to South Africa. 

Up front, Ackermann has stuck to his rotation policy by starting props Ruan Dreyer and Jacques van Rooyen ahead of Julian Redelinghuys and Dylan Smith respectively.

Among the reserves, Jacques Nel, who joined the squad earlier this week, and Dillon Smit are the new additions to the bench.

The Lions are set to play the Highlanders at 08:35 (SA time) on Saturday morning, but are still in Christchurch after their aircraft was forced to turn around due to bad weather en route to Dunedin.

Lions – 15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Warwick Tecklenberg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Subs: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Jacques Nel, 23 Andries Coetzee.

Photo: Toru Yamanaka/AFP Photo