Muir goes for the ‘tried and trusted’

Sharks coach Dick Muir clearly subscribes to the principle that you don’t change a winning combination.

It is thus not surprising that his unbeaten team shows just two changes, both injury related, for the Super 14 Round Six trip to Bloemfontein, where they will face the Cheetahs on Saturday,.

Francois Steyn comes in at fullback for the injured Percy Montgomery and Brendon Botha returns at tighthead prop in the place of Beast Mtawarira. Botha pulled out shortly before last week’s dramatic 27-26 win over the Crusaders with a minor muscle strain.

The rest of the side is unchanged and there are a couple of milestones for Sharks veterans on Saturday – with captain John Smit and loose forward AJ Venter both playing their 75th matches.

Sharks: 15 Francois Steyn, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Butch James, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 AJ Venter , 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Beast Mtawarira, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Warren Britz, 20 Keegan Daniel, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Adrian Jacobs

Date: Saturday, 10 March
Venue: Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Referee: JC Fortuin (South Africa)
Touch judges: Phillip Bosch (South Africa), Pro Legoete (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa), Brendan McCormick (Australia)