The Sharks made only one change to the starting line up for their match against the Force this coming weekend, with JP Pietersen who gets a start as Lwazi Mvovo  drops to the bench after a slight twist of his ankle last weekend.

From sharksrugby

Sharks Coach John Plumtree has stuck largely with the team that overpowered the Blues at Mr Price KINGS PARK last week for this Saturday’s match against the Western Force in Perth making just one change to the starting line-up.

Stefan Terblanche  retains the captaincy in a starting XV where JP Pietersen and Lwazi Mvovo are a straight swap from the previous match while the bench sees a couple of changes, Craig Burden returning in the place of injured Eugene van Staden and Jacques Botes coming in for Lambert Groenewald.

Following on from what was a hugely physical performance from The Sharks, applying the pressure and forcing the mistakes, Plumtree will be expecting the same kind of intensity from his charges against the Force.

The home side come off a week’s bye and following their first round 20-21 defeat to the Reds in Brisbane, will want to do well in their first home game of the season. With Wallaby wing James O`Connor playing at flyhalf for the Perth side following an injury crisis at pivot, it will be a match-up of the 20 year olds with Patrick Lambie starring in the 10 jumped for The Sharks.

O’Connor scored all 20 of his team’s points in their opening game to put his team in the lead, only for a late Reds try to steal the win and certainly they will look to impress at home and against a Sharks side who have beaten them on four of the five occasions these two have met.

Western Force Coach Richard Graham has made just one change to his side, bringing in Matt Dunning at prop, and this has helped in continuity. “That team now has had the ability to train and prepare together throughout the bye week and into this week,” Graham told his team’s website. “We go into the game knowing the way we want to play and having a better understanding of each other’s qualities.”

Looking at their opponents, Graham added that, “Their performances over the past two games have been very good, they’re a big physical side and certainly if you look statistically at their games, the forward pack plays a huge part in their attack and where they’ll look to establish dominance.”

The match is televised live on M-Net/SS1 from 1.05pm on Saturday.

The Sharks:

1. Tendai Mtawarira
2. Bismarck du Plessis
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Steven Sykes
5. Alistair Hargreaves
6. Keegan Daniel
7. Willem Alberts
8. Ryan Kankowski
9. Charl McLeod
10. Patrick Lambie
11. JP Pietersen
12. Meyer Bosman
13. Stefan Terblanche (Capt)
14. Odwa Ndungane
15. Louis Ludik

Replacements
16. Craig Burden
17. John Smit
18. Anton Bresler
19. Jacques Botes
20. Conrad Hoffmann
21.Jacques-Louis Potgieter
22.Lwazi Mvovo