The Lions will welcome back captain Cobus Grobbelaar when they face Griquas in a crucial Currie Cup game in Kimberley on Saturday.

Grobbelaar makes a welcome return after missing three rounds of the competition with a shoulder injury. He takes over the captaincy from Willem Alberts, who stood in during his absence.

He will lead the team in a game that has been moved from the main provincial stadium in Kimberley to the school field of Hoerskool Diamantveld, due to a conflict with a soccer match.

Grobbelaar said that it makes very little difference where they play the game, as they have a job at hand, and need to keep their focus on getting the job done.

Coach Hans Coetzee made a number of changes to his starting XV from the mainly second-string selection that faced the Leopards last week.

The only backline change sees Herkie Kruger back at flyhalf in the place of Ruan Boshoff.

Franco van der Merwe, who played at lock last week, moved back to blindside flank in place of American import Todd Clever, who drops out of the match-day 22 altogether.

Grobbelaar replaces Derick Minnie in the No.6 jersey, with the latter dropping down to the replacement bench.

Willem Stoltz return at lock, in place of Van der Merwe, Gert Muller is back at tighthead prop in place of Kevin Buys and JC Janse van Rensburg is back as loosehead prop ahead of Wayne Swart. Buys will be on the bench.

Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Johan Jackson, 10 Herkie Kruger, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Wouter Moore, 19 Derick Minnie, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Pieter Engelbrecht.

Date: Saturday, September 19
Venue: Hoerskool Diamantveld, Kimberley
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Magda Jordaan
TMO: Michael Cupido