In the backline, William Small-Smith and Malcolm Jaer start on the wing, at the expense of Rhyno Smith and Rosko Specman.

Specman failed his fitness test, while the flyhalf, Tian Schoeman, has recovered from flu and is back in the starting XV.

In the pack, Aidon Davis returns from injury and will start on the flank, while Jacques du Toit starts at hooker.

The bench sees the return of Marnus van der Merwe, Reniel Hugo and Dries Swanepoel.

The Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that it’s important to secure their lineout ball, especially on the attack.

“We lost crucial lineouts, so we would have had stats like 14 out of 16 won or 13 out of 15. But those two that we lost were sometimes really crucial and five yards from the tryline. It has been frustrating for both myself and Corniel van Zyl.

“Jacques' lineout throws are really good, Reniel is a lineout specialist and Aidon Davis is a really good jumper as a loose-forward.

“That will strengthen our lineout for this weekend and we know that it's really important to get good quality ball against the Lions.”

Saturday’s game at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 16:30.

Toyota Free State Cheetahs - 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Howard Mnisi, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Carl Wegner (captain), 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Boan Venter.

Replacements - 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Reniel Hugo, 20 Victor Sekekete, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Dries Swanepoel.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport