Cape Town - The Sharks have made just three rotational changes ahead of Saturday's Super Rugby clash against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
The Durbanites have been impressive on their Australian tour so far, beating the Waratahs in Sydney and then playing out to a 21-21 draw against the Crusaders in Christchurch.
With six log points from those two tour matches, the Sharks will be confident and know that a bright finish will leave them in a strong position going into the final stretch of the competition.
Up front, lock Hyron Andrews returns to the starting XV in place of Ruben van Heerden while Philip van der Walt moves to eighthman for Daniel du Preez with Jacques Vermeulen coming in at flank.
There is just one change to the backline with Marius Louw replacing Andre Esterhuizen while Fezokuhle Mbatha, Tyler Paul, Luke Stringer and Kobus van Wyk all come onto the bench.
Curwin Bosch continues at flyhalf and has been in outstanding form there with Du Preez admitting that from New Zealand.
"He’s played really well and done well for us, he’s a very good all-round player," Du Preez said of his playmaker.
In summing up the previous two weeks, Du Preez said was pleased with what he had seen from his charges.
"Defence shows the character in the team and the team spirit that exists. They’ve been immense and I’ve said that from the word go. From the beginning of the year I said we have a great plan both from an attacking point of view and on defence. On Friday the boys showed how they care for each other; that’s the bottom line," he said.
The coach agreed that six points in the bag after two games on tour, against quality opposition, is a huge return.
"I would have taken that, absolutely,: he said.
"We know how tough it is to tour and how tough this competition is, so to beat the Waratahs for the first time in 19 years in Sydney (the last time was in 2000), that’s a great feat as was the draw against the Crusaders, very nearly a win.
"We’re very pleased with where we are."
Kick-off on Saturday is at 09:35 (SA time).
Teams:
Chiefs
15 Solomon Alaimalo, 14 Sean Wainui, 13 Tumua Manu, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber (captain), 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Mitchell Karpik, 6 Jesse Parete, 5 Mitchell Brown, 4 Tyler Ardron, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Atu Moli
Substitutes: 16 Liam Polwart, 17 Ryan Coxon, 18 Angus Ta'avao, 19 Taleni Seu, 20 Pita Gus Sowakula, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Shaun Stevenson, 23 Alex Nankivell
Sharks
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Louis Schreuder (captain), 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Thomas du Toit
Substitutes: 16 Fezokuhle Mbatha, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Luke Stringer, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Kobus van Wyk
