Carstens to star for Sharks against Lions

South Africa has released prop Deon Carstens to play for Natal Sharks against the British & Irish Lions on Wednesday at the Absa Stadium in Durban.

Fellow Springboks number eight Ryan Kankowski and wing Odwa Ndungane have been ruled out with injury.

It will be the tourists' hardest test to date with regular lock pairing of captain Johann Muller and Steven Sykes and the combative back row of Jacques Botes, Jean Deysel and Keegan Daniel providing a strong challenge to any back five.

NATAL SHARKS (v Lions): 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Chris Jordaan, 13 Andries Strauss, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Luzuko Vulindlu, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (c), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Skipper Badenhorst, 1 Deon Carstens.

Replacements:16 Craig Burden, 17 Patrick Cilliers, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Charl MacLeod, 21 Guy Cronje, 22 Lwazi Mzozo.