Patrick Lambie

Cell C Sharks Coach Brad Macleod-Henderson has stuck largely with the same team that defeated Griquas for this Friday night’s ABSA Currie Cup clash against the Pumas at Growthpoint Kings Park.

“We’ve taken a lot of confidence out of our away win last week and we’re very excited about being back home, it’s fantastic to play at Growthpoint Kings Park,” he explains.

The big news is the surprise availability of Pat Lambie who has been released to the Cell C Sharks to get some game time under the belt (much like the case of Eben Etzebeth who represented Western Province last weekend). He will play off the bench with Fred Zeilinga looking to put in the same kind of dominant performance he delivered last week.

Young Cameron Wright will have the opportunity to play with both flyhalves, something he should relish.

“I thought Cameron came through brilliantly for a first game at this level in difficult conditions,” said Macleod-Henderson. “He had a fantastic game, so we’re very happy.”

Stephan Lewies is not available, and JC Astle will start at lock after making a very good first appearance off the bench last week. There are no other changes to the starting XV.

“The Currie Cup is a tough competition, all eight sides have quality players and the Pumas showed that last week when they got a good win over Free State,” the coach adds. “They’re a very good side, they’ve only lost two or three games in the last two years, their players have been together as a team for a while now and they know where they’re going. They’re well-structured and we’ll need to perform well on Friday night to get the result.”

Cell C Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 S’bura Sithole, 12 Paul Jordaan, 11 Tonderai Chavhanga, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Tera Mtembu (Captain), 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 JC Astle, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Johan Meyer, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Hanco Venter, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 Lionel Cronjé.