Lloyd comes in for a first Cardiff start
WALES hooker Evan Lloyd will make his first Cardiff start against Lions in Johannesburg this afternoon (5.15pm).
Twice-capped Lloyd replaces Liam Belcher as one of five changes for the United Rugby Championship game at Ellis Park.
Wales flanker James Botham makes his first start since the Six Nations in a back row with Ben Donnell, as locks Seb Davies and Rory Thornton both return.
And Gabriel Hamer-Webb makes his first appearance since returning to the club from Bath, replacing injured wing Harri Millard.
With Belcher starting on the bench the side is captained by Ben Thomas, just days after becoming a father for the first time.
Lloyd, 22, has made all his previous nine appearances for the Blue and Blacks from the bench, as he did for Wales against France and Italy in March.
Lions, 11th in the URC table, are just one place above Cardiff but have 14 more points than their Welsh visitors and remain in playoff contention despite losing two of their last three games.
Cardiff are in their worst league run in nine years having lost seven in a row since beating Dragons in December, equalling a similar run of losses in 2015.
They arrived in Johannesburg on Thursday with head coach Matt Sherratt welcoming the benefits of spending an extended period together as a squad.
“It’s always a time of year the boys look forward,” said Sherratt. “But as much as we will enjoy our time together here, we are determined to give a really good account of ourselves and not let our season fizzle out.
“The Lions are a top quality team, packed with talented athletes and a backline who can cause lots of problems if you give them too much space.
“But we are going to Ellis Park to do a job. We have a game-plan, which will hopefully allow us to imprint our game on them.” Lions: Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Marius Louw (capt), Edwill van der Merwe; Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg; Ruan Dreyer, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Willem Alberts, Ruan Delport, JC Pretorius, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn. Replacements: Jaco Visagie, JP Smithx, Conrad van Vuren, Reinhard Nothnagel, Emmanuel Tshituka, Hanru Sirgel, Jordan Hendrikse, Gianni Lombard
Cardiff: Cam Winnett; Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Mason Grady, Ben Thomas, Theo Cabango; Tinus de Beer, Gonzalo Bertranou; Rhys Carre, Evan Lloyd, Keiron Assiratti, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Ben Donnell, James Botham, Mackenzie Martin. Replacements: Liam Belcher, Corey Domachowski, Rhys Litterick, Shane LewisHughes, Alun Lawrence, Ellis Bevan, Jacob Beetham, Max Clark.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)