Kriel leads unchanged Lions into battle
The table-topping Lions will look to go one step further than last year – when they lost to the Hurricanes in the Final in Wellington.
The table-topping Lions scored 84 tries this season, breaking the 2016 record of 81 team tries.
Their opponents, the Hurricanes, is the only team to have scored more tries – 93.
The Hurricanes beat the Lions 20-3 in the 2016 Final and smashed them 50-17 the last time the two sides met at Ellis Park – in Round 10 of the 2016 competition.
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Albertus Smith, 6 Jaco Kriel (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Francois de Klerk, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Sylvian Mahuza.
Date: Saturday, July 29
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 14.30 (12.30 GMT; 00.30, Sunday, July 30, NZ time)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
