Plumtree brings in his Bok Sharks for Currie Cup

Sharks coach John Plumtree has resisted the urge to make too many changes to last week’s starting line-up but has bolstered the side with a couple of Springboks.

Steve Meyer is back in the starting line-up after going over on his ankle in training and playing off the bench last week.

With a 5-2 split on the bench, Dumond drops out of the match 22 entirely with Ruan Pienaar and Andries Strauss providing back-up.

Amongst the forwards, Alistair Hargreaves has picked up an injury which means Ross Skeate will start his first match for The Sharks since signing with the Union.

Ryan Kankowski replaces Michael Rhodes while Keegan Daniel, hat-trick hero last week, shifts to flank to accommodate the Springbok eighthman.

“Keegan Daniel and Jacques Botes have done well,” coach John Plumtree on the Sharks site of the decision to retain the pair despite the return of three loose-forwards in Kankowski, Alberts and Jean Deysel, back from injury.

Players being rewarded for good form is what this campaign is all about.

“We’ve left Alistair Hargreaves out because he’s struggling with a calf muscle injury, so Ross Skeate comes in for him. We wanted to bring Beast Mtawarira off the bench because it takes a while to learn everything when you come back into a team again, but he will play a big role for us in the second half.”

Both teams have a few good results in the bag this season and as always, matches between the two are hard-fought affairs.

“The Cheetahs are coming off the high of beating the Blue Bulls at Loftus and they will be very confident,” says Plumtree.

“We’re starting to develop our programme as well. We were disappointing last week but it was a good wake up call for us in the same respect after beating the Bulls. I guess both teams will be equally motivated for this game.”

“If you can have a bench that comes on and increases the tempo of the game, that’s crucial. If they can come on and perform accurately, obviously that’s gold for any team.”

The Sharks

15. Louis Ludik , 14. JP Pietersen , 13. Stefan Terblanche (Capt) , 12. Patrick Lambie , 11. Lwazi Mvovo , 10. Steve Meyer , 9. Charl McLeod , 8. Ryan Kankowski , 7. Keegan Daniel , 6. Jacques Botes , 5. Ross Skeate , 4. Steven Sykes , 3. Wiehahn Herbst , 2. Craig Burden , 1. Patric Cilliers

Replacements , 16. Kyle Cooper , 17. Tendai Mtawarira , 18. Eugene van Staden , 19. Willem Alberts , 20. Jean Deysel , 21. Ruan Pienaar , 22. Andries Strauss