The official Sharks web site have announced the Team to face WP this weekend.

The Sharks have confirmed that Juan Hernandez and Rory Kockott will start this Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup match against Western Province at The Absa Stadium Durban.

John Plumtree who today was presented with the Absa Coach of the Month Award for August agreed that the match would be a real cracker – Province the only side to have beaten The Sharks this season.

“The boys are obviously very excited. We have a lot of respect for this Province side, it’s loaded with talent. They’ll come here knowing they can beat us, the plus for us is that we’ve been playing well and are expecting a large crowd. The players look forward to these challenges so it’s not been hard from a coaching perspective to get the team up for this game.”

With good weather predicted, this after the first round match in Cape Town, played in wet weather, ended in Province’s favour, Plumtree admitted that the conditions play a big role.

“The weather conditions change the dynamic, so let’s hope it’s dry. It’s going to be intense and physical, both sides are pretty stingy in terms of conceding tries so defence is going to be up there. We also have a good referee, we’re pleased to have Jonathan Kaplan.”

Riaan Swanepoel returns to the side after missing out last week through injury, with Waylon Murray reverting to the bench and Andries Strauss shifting to outside centre in the other changes along with the new halfback pairing.

With Wiehahn Herbst having been cleared of any misdoing last week, he joins either Patric Cilliers or Deon Carstens on the other side of the scrum with Skipper Badenhorst adding experience to the front row as he celebrates his 50th Absa Currie Cup cap for The Sharks.

Johann Muller has been handed the captaincy for this game, his leadership important for The Sharks after Stefan Terblanche also captained the side with aplomb. “The team has been well-led,” admitted Plumtree. “We have some outstanding leaders in the team and the belief the team have and trust they have for each other is a major factor behind our success. The team has confidence which is huge for any team, we’ve worked hard all season and all week and kept our preparation for this game consistent.”

Team:

15. Stefan Terblanche
14. Chris Jordaan
13. Andries Strauss
12. Riaan Swanepoel
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Juan Hernandez
9. Rory Kockott
8. Keegan Daniel
7. Jean Deysel
6. Jacques Botes
5. Johann Muller (Capt)
4. Steven Sykes
3. Wiehahn Herbst
2. Skipper Badenhorst
1 Deon Carstens / Patric Cilliers

Replacements:
16. Craig Burden
17. Patric Cilliers / Deon Carstens
18. Albert van den Berg
19. Michael Rhodes
20. Charl McLeod
21. Monty Dumond
22. Waylon Murray