Kade Wolhuter will be starting at flyhalf this week, while Rynhardt Jonker and Henco van Wyk will form a new centre combination.

Rynhardt Jonker. Photo: Morgan Piek

Upfront, the tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye makes a return after sustaining a concussion against the Dragons two weeks ago.

It will be a battle of one versus two on the log, and the Springbok winger Edwill van der Merwe said their focus is only on the task at hand. “We don’t focus too much on the log, we’re only four games into the season, so it’s a bit too early for that,” said Van der Merwe.

“We just want to keep improving and something that we want to work on as a team is finishing the opportunities when they arise.

“Against a team like Leinster, you might only get one or two opportunities, and you have to capitalise when you get those to score points and put them under pressure.”

Saturday night’s game at the iconic Aviva Stadium kicks off at 18:15.

Leinster – TBA

Lions – 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman

Replacements – 16 Franco Marais, 17 Heiko Pohlmann, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Erich Cronjé

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg/mvh