Cape Town - Sharks coach Robert du Preez, who had hinted at making rotational changes during the season and after three Super Rugby matches, has re-jigged his side to take on the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 17:15.
After naming the same starting line-up in three successive matches, Du Preez has decided to make a few changes to the team to travel to Pretoria.
The two changes to the pack see Gideon Koegelenberg replacing Ruan Botha at lock with the uncapped Ruben van Heerden named on the bench and Wian Vosloo comes in for Tyler Paul at flank. Jacques Vermeulen moves to the other side of the scrum to accommodate Vosloo.
Among the backs, Jeremy Ward and Andre Esterhuizen swap jerseys while Rhyno Smith comes in for Aphelele Fassi at fullback.
There are also a couple of changes on the bench, the uncapped Maritzburg old boy, Fezokuhle Mbatha replaces Kerron van Vuuren while Grant Williams takes over from Cameron Wright as scrumhalf back-up.
After being a late withdrawal for last week’s match, Curwin Bosch has recovered sufficiently to be named among the reserves.
Sharks lock Hyron Andrews admits that there were areas of the team’s game that let them down last week, but this week is all about fixing that.
“Our accuracy at set-piece time let us down last week but we’ve worked hard to rectify it this week and the boys are up for this match,” he explains.
“The boys hate losing and we learn from defeat, but we’re coming back stronger. We’re tough on ourselves and each other when we make mistakes but it’s a brotherhood and we get on with it.
He adds that this game is all down to pressure - who can exert it and who crumbles.
“We know we can expect the Bulls to put pressure on us at lineout time as well as the scrums so it’s going to be a real set-piece battle on Saturday. If we can put pressure on them, then that gives our backs an opportunity to really play; we have some outstanding backline players.”
Teams:
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Dylan
Sage, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handre Pollard (captain), 9 Ivan van Zyl 8
Duane Vermeulen, 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Jannes Kirsten, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Hanro
Liebenberg, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes:
16 Corniel Els, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19
Thembelani Bholi, 20 Paul Schoeman, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok,
23 Divan Rossouw
Sharks
15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13. Lukhanyo Am, 12 Jeremy Ward, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10.Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder (captain), 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Wian Vosloo, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Fezokhule ‘Fez’ Mbatha, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Andre Esterhuizen, 23 Curwin Bosch
