Durban - The Sharks' team named to play the Cheetahs in a round five Super Rugby clash in Bloemfontein has been bolstered by the return of a number Springboks who were rested last weekend against the Kings.
Beast Mtawarira returns to the starting line-up along with fellow Springbok Coenie Oosthuizen in a rejigged front row while Lwazi Mvovo is back on the wing in the final of three Springboks who missed the Kings match due to the enforced Rest Protocol.
Curwin Bosch, meanwhile, has been giben the No 10 jersey after the struggles of rookie Benhard Janse van rensburg against the Kings while Frenchman Clement Poitrenaud returns at fullback.
Cobus Reinach has been backed once more at scrumhalf.
Born, raised and schooled in the Free State before picking up his junior rugby with the Sharks, Reinach warns of a Cheetahs side that has added a few strings to their attacking bow under coach Franco Smith.
“They have always played attacking rugby, but now they attack with different lines, so they are quite unpredictable,” Reinach told the Sharks website.
“What we can expect is a lot of attacking rugby which will keep us on our feet; it’s quite a good challenge.
“The Cheetahs team is a strong outfit with some very exciting players who can bring anything to the party.”
With the two teams sitting in a similar position after last week – where the Cheetahs lost to the Jaguares and the Sharks didn’t perform as well as they wanted to – Reinach expects a huge match on Saturday, both teams with a point to prove.
“Both teams need to put in a big performance, we’re expecting a huge performance from them, as well as one from us. We need to lift our standards,” he said.
Teams:
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Nico Lee, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Niell Jordaan, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Rayno Benjamin/Clinton Swart
Sharks
15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Tera Mtembu (captain), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Daniel du Preez, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Garth April
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