The clash at Emirates Airline Park is scheduled to start at 16h00 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

The return of Nothnagel relieves the pressure at lock for the Lions, and his inclusion certainly bodes well for the Johannesburg-based team come lineout time, while the Tshituka brothers, who missed out on the recent Leinster trip, are also back in the match-23.

“We’re pretty pleased to have ‘Notties’ back,” said Emirates Lions Head Coach Ivan van Rooyen. “Our lineout stocks have been quite thin due to injuries, so to have him at No 5 is quite exciting."

Van Rooyen further went on to say that although he and his management had long prepared for Cardiff Rugby, additional homework was necessary leading up to Sunday.

"Cardiff Rugby will be an interesting tussle this Sunday – they will be the first international team we face at home in the competition,” he said.

“We had prepared quite intensely for them previously, so this week has been focused on tweaking a few things having analysed their play over the past two months.

"It's a home game so we are backing ourselves for a positive result. The players are feeling upbeat attitude-wise, especially after our spirited performance away to Leinster a fortnight ago.”

Emirates Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel (captain), 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.