AT THE BACK: Benji Marshall has been handed his first Super Rugby start, in the No 15 jersey against the Lions.

Benji Marshall will make his first start for the Blues at fullback in Johannesburg on Sunday (NZ time).

In the Blues first three matches this year, Marshall tasted just 20 minutes of action from the bench and he is sure to be tested out under the high ball by the Lions on the highveldt.

The former Kiwis captain was originally selected to be a first five-eighth but coach Sir John Kirwan has opted to play him at fullback, where he has more time and space to get accustomed to the 15-man game.

"It's exciting getting my first start," Marshall said.

"I've been looking forward to getting another taste since the first 20 minutes I got against the Highlanders, so I've just had to have a bit of patience, bide my time a bit and the time has come, so I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Marshall conceded it had been a challenging few weeks after not coming off the bench against the Crusaders and being left out of the match-day 23 last week.

"It's been a tough couple of weeks patience-wise. It's a bit of the other side of the coin for me, I'm used to being in a starting line-up in league and then coming back and having to be a bit more patient, not getting on against the Crusaders and then not being in the team the week after so to get the opportunity to start, you've just got to take your opportunities and this is my chance."

Kirwan has been impressed with the way Marshall had been training at fullback.

"We're keeping with the theme of really trying to create some internal competition and although that's sometimes difficult to do when you haven't had a win we believe in what we're doing," Kirwan said.

"We believe that Benji deserves a start at fullback, he's jumping out of his skin, he's ready to go, he's spent the last couple of weeks really refining that role so we'll put him in there."

There are four other changes to the team which lost to the Bulls last week. All Blacks utility Charles Piutau moves to the left wing, with Tevita Li dropping out of the squad.

Chris Noakes gets a surprise recall ahead of Simon Hickey, who looked assured in his two previous starts at first five-eighth. Pita Ahki earns promotion at second-five after a strong performance from the bench in place of Jackson Willison.

"Noakesy deserves another crack at it," Kirwan said. "We think he'll be really positive for us and he's ready and raring to go."

In the pack, All Blacks flanker Steven Luatua shifts to No 8 to cover Peter Saili's absence with a patella tendon injury. That allows Brendon O'Connor a rare start at blindside.

"We're very fortunate to have someone of Brendon's calibre on the bench. He doesn't want to be on the bench and every time he comes on he tells you that, so it's important we give him a start," Kirwan said.

"With Peter being a little bit dinged up we've got that opportunity to play him in that role at six. I think we'll be playing with two flying loose-forwards so I'm really excited about seeing how that works out."

Patrick Tuipulotu also replaces Liaki Moli at lock, while Jordan Manihera is poised to make his Super Rugby debut after being named on the bench.

"The Lions play a similar type of game to the Bulls," Kirwan said. "We have to match their enthusiasm, we have to be patient with the ball, cut down our errors and take our points when they're there. We can't let them get away to a good start."

Kirwan said it was important to head home to New Zealand with points from South Africa.

"It's not desperation time but if you want to be around at the end of the tournament then you've got to keep in touch with the leaderboard," he said.

"If we do that this week we're totally in touch and we've played four games with a 50 per cent winning record heading home and Africa out of the way, with what would be seen as a pretty difficult start to the season. If we can come home from Africa with some points we'll be in pretty good shape."

BLUES: Benji Marshall, Frank Halai, George Moala, Pita Ahki, Charles Piutau, Chris Noakes, Piri Weepu, Steven Luatua, Luke Braid, Brendon O'Connor, Tom Donnelly, Patrick Tuipulotu, Charlie Faumuina, James Parsons, Tony Woodcock. Reserves: Tom McCartney, Sam Prattley, Angus Ta'avao, Liaki Moli, Jordan Manihera, Bryn Hall, Simon Hickey, Jackson Willison