Warren Whiteley will start at No 8 for the Lions in Saturday's Super Rugby final against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Whiteley has recovered from a calf injury that ruled him out of the semi-final against the Highlanders at Ellis Park and regains the captaincy.
Ruan Ackermann, who started at No 8 last Saturday, drops to the bench, with Stephan de Wit falling out of the match 23.
Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall 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 Dylan Smith.
Subs: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Jaco van der Walt.
Photo: Anne Laing/HSM Images