Sharks and Bulls gear up for South African derby

Both on the back of strong performances, the Sharks and Bulls have named their sides ahead of their South African derby.

Sharks coach Robert Du Preez had no hesitation in naming an unchanged starting XV for his side’s week nine encounter at Kings Park on Saturday.

The coach rewarded the players who did the team proud in New Zealand – where they beat the Blues and came within seconds of beating the Hurricanes.

He has however made three rotational changes on the bench – with Armand van der Merwe replacing Franco Marais, while Tyler Paul will now cover lock ahead of Hyron Andrews and Daniel du Preez returns to the matchday 23 from injury and will potentially form a trio of brothers on-field should he join fellow loose forward Jean-Luc and flyhalf Robert during the match.

For the Bulls, head coach John Mitchell has made two changes to his starting side.

Both changes are in the second row with the return of Springbok Lood de Jager and locking parter RG Snyman in the starting XV.

The duo replaces Hendré Stassen and Jason Jenkins who started in last weekend’s 33-23 win over the Stormers.

Jenkins drops down to the bench, while Stassen drops out of the matchday 23.

BULLS

15. Warrick Gelant, 14. Johnny Kötze, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. Burger Odendaal (C), 11. Divan Rossouw, 10. Handré Pollard, 9. Ivan van Zyl, 8. Hanro Liebenberg, 7. Thembelani Bholi, 6. Marco van Staden, 5. Lodewyk de Jager, 4. Rudolph Snyman, 3. Trevor Nyakane, 2. Adriaan Strauss, 1. Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16. Jaco Visagie, 17. Lizo Gqoboka, 18. Frans van Wyk, 19. Jason Jenkins, 20. Roelof Smit, 21. André Warner, 22. Manie Libbok, 23. Duncan Matthews.

SHARKS

15. Curwin Bosch, 14. Sibusiso Nkosi, 13. Lukhanyo Am, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Robert du Preez, 9. Louis Schreuder, 8. Lubabalo Mtembu, 7. Jean-Luc du Preez, 6. Philip van der Walt, 5. Stephan Lewies, 4. Ruan Botha (C), 3. Thomas du Toit, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16. Armand van der Merwe, 17. Juan Schoeman, 18. John-Hubert Meyer, 19. Tyler Paul, 20. Daniel du Preez, 21. Cameron Wright, 22. Marius Louw, 23. Kobus van Wyk.