Chiliboy starts for Sharks
The Cell C Sharks have made three changes to their side for their Currie Cup clash against Boland on Friday.
Heimar Williams is into the starting XV at outside centre in place of Lukhanyo Am, who seemed to pick up an injury in practice on Monday.
In the forwards, Chiliboy Ralepelle starts at hooker in a rotational change with Franco Marais - who has had a massive workload coming out of Super Rugby. Meanwhile Ruan Botha replaces Stephan Lewies, who is being given some down time to recover as well.
"The guys that will be out for this week are guys we want to give rest. I'm specifically talking about guys who have played Super Rugby. One of those is Stephan, who has quite a few niggles that we want to sort out for him to be ready next week," coach Robert du Preez said on Tuesday.
"The other guy who will come into the starting lineup is Chiliboy, but he is a rotational thing. We need to Chili to play an 80 minute game and Franco will be on the bench."
Jean-Luc du Preez is not completely fit and the Sharks management have chosen not to select him and Du Preez believes it gives a couple of the other players a chance to get some game time.
"A couple of those guys have not been tested at Currie Cup level but it's a great opportunity for them. If they are going to be selected, it's up to them whether they will use that opportunity. I'm certainly not afraid to give the youngsters a go."
On that note, Du Preez has chosen to keep Inny Radebe at flyhalf this weekend and Curwin Bosch at fullback, while Garth April provides cover for both off the bench. Du Preez said the jostle for a starting berth between the trio is a very handy situation to have.
"I think in any team setup, if you have that healthy competition, that's exactly what a coach wants. It starts at practices. I actually said to the guys this morning, coaches watch how you train at practice and when we train well we play well."
The Sharks face Boland on Friday in Wellington - kickoff is at 15h00.
Sharks team (15-1): Curwin Bosch, Odwa Ndungane, Heimar Williams, Andre Esterhuizen, S'bura Sithole, Inny Radebe, Stefan Ungerer, Philip van der Walt, Tera Mtembu, Keegan Daniel, Ruan Botha, Etienne Oosthuizen, Thomas du Toit, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Dale Chadwick.
Replacements: Franco Marais, John-Hubert Meyer, JC Astle, Jean Deysel, Hanco Venter, Wandile Mjekevu, Garth April.
Twitter - @gazza_jenks @ECRSportswave
Facebook - ECRSportswave