Cape Town - Lions coach Swys de Bruin raised a few eyebrows when he only included two backline players on the bench for Saturday’s Super Rugby opener against the Sharks in Johannesburg.



Springboks Ross Cronje and Elton Jantjies will start as the halfback combination but the Lions have no recognised scrumhalf or flyhalf on the bench.



The two backline substitutes - Howard Mnisi and Rohan Janse van Rensburg - are both centres.



Fullback Andries Coetzee will stand in as scrumhalf or flyhalf if either Cronje or Jantjies gets injured.



"There is a scrumhalf, he’s just playing in another position," De Bruin said on Thursday.

"We’ve got good cover there in Andries. He’s a good scrumhalf. He played there at Craven Week and at school. He can very easily move into the No 9 position."

Kick-off for Saturday’s clash at Ellis Park is scheduled for 17:15.



Teams:



Lions



15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen



Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg



Sharks



15 Lwazi Mvovo, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Ruan Botha (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Juan Schoeman



Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 John-Hubert Meyer, 18 Tendai Mtawarira, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Daniel du Preez, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Kobus van Wyk