Cape Town - Warren Whiteley will lead a strong Lions outfit for their Super Rugby opener against the Jaguares in Argentina on Saturday evening.

The Lions have handed a franchise Super rugby debut to Carlu Sadie (formerly of the Stormers), while the bench includes new faces in Frans van Wyk, Ruan Vermaak, Gianni Lombard and Wandisile Simelane.

The Lions' other new signing, Stephan Lewies (formerly of the Sharks), has a minor pectoral tear and should be ready for action next week, while flank Kwagga Smith is also sidelined for a week with a calf injury.



The Lions and Jaguares have met on seven occasions with the away side yet to taste victory.

The men from Johannesburg lead the head-to-head four wins to the three of the South American side.

The match between the two sides takes place on Saturday, February 16, with kick-off scheduled for 23:40 (SA time).

Teams:

Jaguares

TBA

Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies 9 Nic Groom, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith

Substitutes: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Frans van Wyk, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Robert Kruger, 21 Gianni Lombard/Dillon Smit, 22 Wandisile Simelane, 23 Ruan Combrinck