The Sharks have made two changes to their starting lineup for the match against the Brumbies in Canberra, while Jean-Luc du Preez has been named on the bench.
In two straight swaps, Kobus van Wyk replaces Sbu Nkosi at right wing and Thomas du Toit starts at tighthead prop ahead of John-Hubert Meyer.
There are multiple changes to the bench, where Du Preez makes his return to action since injuring his ankle in the Currie Cup final last year. Meanwhile, Meyer takes the place of Ross Geldenhuys and Tyler Paul is back at the expense of Gideon Koegelenberg.
‘We shouldn’t be reading too much into the Brumbies’ loss to the Rebels. They are a good team with a formidable pack of forwards who like to drive and like to play a lot of rugby. It’s going to be a big, big game on Saturday and we want to get our tour off to a great start,’ said Sharks coach Robert du Preez.
‘We’ve seen a lot of lineout driving from them, they probably play a bit more than they did in the past and they’re not scared to run the ball out of their own 22. If you give them any opportunities or scraps, they will really pounce on that. We are going to have to be on top of our game to make sure we control it the way we want; we need to dominate, that’s where it’s all going to start. We need to bring big physicality, that’s really important for us.’
Sharks – 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Wian Vosloo, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Ruan Botha (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.
Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
