Sharks seek maximum points ahead of bye

With the Cheetahs now top of the table, the Sharks are eyeing a bonus point victory in what will be their final home game of the round-robin stages.

Sharks coach Rob du Preez has taken the opportunity to rotate out players in what should be a fairly straight-forward affair on Saturday. The Kings are winless after five games and a trip to Durban will probably prove too difficult for the ailing Eastern Cape outfit.

While everyone will be waiting for Pat Lambie to make his return to rugby off the bench, there are plenty of changes to speak about in the starting lineup.

The front row has been mixed up as Thomas du Toit shifts to the loosehead. Jean-Hubert Meyer will start at tighthead after stabilising a Sharks scrum that was being demolished by the Cheetahs last weekend. Chiliboy Ralepelle starts at hooker and captains the side in Keegan Daniel's absence.

With Daniel and Philip van der Walt out, Francois Kleinhans packs down at eighthman while Khaya Majola gets his first start on the openside of the scrum.

Scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer swaps out for Michael Claassens while the Sharks midfield remains unchanged. With Odwa Ndungane out for the rest of the season, Wandile Mjekevu and Ryno Smith play on either wing.

Du Preez said the time was right to mix up his lineup after six tough rounds of rugby.

“All the changes are rotational; we just need to be clear on that. Nobody has been dropped,” Du Preez said as the team practiced inside Kings Park Stadium on Thursday.

Lambie’s return has been a long time in the making but Du Preez insisted that the Springbok pivot was 100 percent ready for action.

“He’s ready to go, Pat has had a great two weeks so we’re very pleased that he’s back. We’re pleased for him, but also for us – it will be great for him to get some game time. He will cover 10 for us.”

“He’s ready to go so he’ll definitely get some game time on Saturday.”

The Sharks coach also wanted to allow his forwards to play to their strengths, hence his selection of Kleinhans at eighthman and his son Jean-Luc at blindside flank.

“Frana has played quite a bit at eight and Jean-Luc not so much. We want to keep Jean-Luc at 7 because he’s the best call-carrier in the team – we’re just going with our strengths.”

With the likes of regular captain Daniel and Van der Walt still injured, the Sharks need to hold out this weekend as the reprieve of a bye next week will give their missing charges a chance to recover.

Nevertheless a bonus point victory is the prize according to Du Preez.

“This is obviously a very important game for us and we’re taking it very seriously. We know what EP did to the Bulls up at Loftus - that game was in the balance right until the end so we’re not taking them lightly. We need to hit our straps in this game and make sure we use our opportunities – execution is going to be vital,” the coach said.

The Sharks host the Kings at Growthpoint Kings Park. Kickoff is at 15h00.

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