There are two vastly different approaches from the teams going into Friday’s Super Rugby pre-season showdown between the Lions and Sharks in Johannesburg.

While Lions coach Johan Ackermann continued to experiment with his team, Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White have risked injury to his vast array of Springboks.

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However, their main goal is the same – putting the final touches to their outfits ahead of next week’s season openers.

White admitted that a coach you’re always going to be concerned about losing guys to injury.

“I don’t think a coach ever gets a team he wants to start, even at Springbok level,” the World Cup-winning former Bok coach, White, said.

“Whenever you get one back, someone else inevitably breaks down.

“What we want is a situation where we hopefully come through Friday’s game unscathed, but if they don’t then we’ve at least used the two warm-up games to give other guys an opportunity to get game-time, and they’re ready to step in if need be.”

White also pointed to depth as an issue.

“When I was at the Brumbies, I realised we lost in the Final [last year] because we didn’t have as much depth as the Chiefs,” he said of a heartbreaking 22-27 loss in Hamilton.

“Coming here [to Durban], it’s clear we have the depth here, but they’ve also got to all be ready to play if they’re needed.

“We have a really talented squad, with youth and experience, so it’s important to have used the two warm-up games to also test our depth.”

White used centre as an example of where he is hoping to add more depth.

“We want a guy like [rookie] Andre Esterhuizen to push someone like [World Cup-winning Springbok] Frans Steyn,” the Sharks mentor said, adding: “He [Esterhuizen] is 19 years old and performed really well against Saracens.

“There’s nothing like some healthy competition, so if Frans feels he has someone snapping at his heels, then he’s going to produce better performances.

“It’s a good position to be in as a coach.”

Ackermann, in stark contrast, named a team that shows 13 changes to the team that beat the Southern Kings 19-12 in Port Elizabeth, calling the selection an “ideal opportunity to mix youth and experience.”

The Lions coach clearly wants to see how a number of the fringe players will do against a powerful outfit such as the Sharks and is looking for a number of big performances from his players.

With Rudi Matthee and Andries Coetzee both joining the injured list, Ackermann not only replaced them but changed virtually the entire team for the clash.

Only wing Chrysander Botha and hooker Willie Wepener remain from the starting line-up for Port Elizabeth with a number of first-choice players being rested a week out from the start of the competition.

“Of course it is important for us to avoid further injuries so we have decided to rest some of our players,” Ackermann said of a team that has only a handful Springboks to call on and not nearly as much depth as that of the Sharks.

“However, I also believe Friday’s game will give some of our young players an opportunity to express themselves and gain some valuable experience.

“It will be a chance for them to put their hands up for the future.”

White also spoke of the need to rotate his frontline players during the season.

“You’ll never get away with picking the same group of players every week,” the Sharks boss said, adding: “But there’s different levels of rotation – in the Currie Cup you are more likely to be able to do it because there are some easier games, whereas that isn’t really the case in Super Rugby.

“So to start pre-planning can come back to bite you, so one of things we’ll have to do is just see how our campaign goes and if there are one or two niggling injuries, then you can rotate.

“It won’t every be rotation on a mass basis. It’s more about one or two guys going in to fill position for certain fixtures. There will be rotation, but at the same time it’s about making sure the team stays cohesive.”

Teams:

Lions: 15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Nicolaas Johannes Hanekom, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach (Captain), 11 Chrysander Botha, 10 Willem du Plessis, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Willem Britz, 7 Ruaan Lerm, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Jacobus Stephanus Roux, 2 Willem Wepener, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Charles Marais, Corne Fourie, Stephan Vermeulen, Pieter Hugo Kloppers, MB Lusaseni, Stephan de Witt, Ross Cronje, Jacobus Willem Jonker, Ruan Combrinck, Deon Helberg.

Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis (Captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: Monde Hadebe, Dale Chadwick, Lourens Adriaanse, Stephan Lewies, Jacques Botes, Ryan Kankowski, Charl McLeod, Fred Zeilinga, Heimar Williams, S’bura Sithole, Jaco van Tonder.

Date: Friday 7 February
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 19:00 (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe