Rassie Erasmus will cast a keen eye on the United Rugby Championship (URC) showdown between the Bulls and Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

In the only URC match of the weekend, Jake White’s charges will look to build a bit of a cushion in third place on the overall table, with the Sharks just a point behind them.

Meanwhile, the Lions look to make a massive jump as they head into the fixture in 12th position but trail the eighth-placed Scarlets by four points, but with two games in hand.

The fixture also provides the two groups of players another opportunity to impress Erasmus before the first Springboks alignment camp of the year, with several invitees featuring in the match.

Jake White backs Willie le Roux at 10

White has made several tweaks to his Bulls matchday squad following the defeat to the Sharks but there is no change at fly-half as Willie le Roux continues in the number ten jersey with Johan Goosen sidelined. He is partnered by Embrose Papier in the half-backs.

David Kriel shifts from the 13 jersey into the 12 to allow for Stedman Gans’ inclusion while Canan Moodie moves to the left wing. Shock alignment invitee Sebastian de Klerk returns on the right wing with Devon Williams retained at full-back.

The Bulls have been boosted by the return of Cobus Wiese who slots into the second-row alongside JF van Heerden. There is another change in the loose trio as Celimpilo Gumede starts in Cameron Hanekom’s absence with Reinhardt Ludwig leading the side from the number seven jersey and Marco van Staden starting on the openside.

Gerhard Steenekamp comes into the starting XV as Jan-Hendrik Wessels drops to the bench to cover hooker after featuring at loosehead prop last week. Steenekamp makes up an-all Springbok front-row with hooker Johan Grobbelaar and tighthead prop Wilco Louw.

On the bench, White has added loosehead Alulutho Tshakweni with Francois Klopper covering tighthead. Ruan Vermaak and Nizaam Carr provide back-five cover.

White has selected two scrum-halves on his replacements bench in Zak Burger and Keagan Johannes with winger Sergeal Petersen completing the team.

Lions bolstered by Du Plessis

Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen has made just one change to his starting XV from the team that defeated the Stormers 30-23 last time out.

Quan Horn continues at full-back after an impressive man-of-the-match shift against the Stormers and is joined by wingers Richard Kriel and Edwill van der Merwe in the back three.

Marius Louw and Henco van Wyk combine in the centres once again after both crossing for tries last time out while Morne van den Berg and Gianni Lombard are in the half-backs.

The only change to the run-on team is in the back-row with Jarod Cairns replacing JC Pretorius in the number six jumper with Francke Horn leading the team from number eight while Ruan Venter is named at blindside.

The tight-five is retained with Darrien Lansberg and Etienne Oosthuizen in the second-row while Asenathi Ntlabakanye, PJ Botha and Juan Schoeman start up front.

Props Morgan Naude and Conraad van Vuuren come onto the bench for the Lions with hooker Jaco Visagie completing the front-row cover. Van Rooyen has selected a 6-2 bench split to tackle the Bulls as Ruan Delport, Sibabalo Qoma, and Renzo du Plessis complete the forward replacements while Nico Steyn and Manuel Rass are backline options.

Steyn is one of the surprising invitees for the alignment camp as is Du Plessis who makes his first appearance for the Lions this year.

Bulls v Lions teams

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (c), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Jan-hendrik Wessels, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Sergeal Petersen

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Lansberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Sibabalo Qoma, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Manuel Rass

Date: Saturday, 22 February
Kick-off: 14:00 local (12:00 GMT)
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Assistant Referees: Morne Ferreira, Sean Muller
TMO: Egon Seconds