Jean Deysel

The Cell C Sharks will field a team resting Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis and Willem Alberts (all on the bench)… and also still without Patrick Lambie, but with Jean Deysel captaining the side and Frans Steyn back in his favoured position of Inside Centre.

This of course means that Tim Swiel starts at Flyhalf, Dale Chadwick at loosehead prop, Kyle Cooper as starting hooker and Lourens Adriaanse as starting tighthead prop.

S’Bura Sithole is back at Outside centre and JP Pietersen moves back to Right wing, with SP Marais protecting the last vestage.

3 Other returning Springboks get starting positions, namely Marcell Coetzee, Stephan Lewies and Lwazi Mvovo.

Jake White explained the rationale behind the decisions and selections and warned that the Cheetahs are dangerous in Bloemfontein.

“The Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, they’re a strong side, you can see that from their record. They have knocked over some good sides at home and despite all the Springbok players they have from the weekend, it’s not really about the players they have in their roster, they’re a good team. We just need to make sure we prepare ourselves properly.

“We have a good away record, probably better than our home record this year strangely enough, although it’s not something we are really concentrating on or giving too much attention to. We just want to make sure we win.”

Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel (Captain), 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Dale Chadwick
Replacements: 16 Thomas du Toit, 17 Bismarck du Plessis, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Lubabalo Mtembu, 21 Charl McLeod, 22 Odwa Ndungane, 23 Tonderai Chavhanga.

Date: Saturday 5 July
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-Off: 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT)
Referee: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Stuart Berry (South Africa), Francois de Bruin (South Africa)
TMO: Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)