Coach John Plumtree has made just one change to the Sharks side that beat Western Province last week, ahead of their Currie Cup clash against Boland this Friday in Durban.

The biggest surprise is that Springbok discard, prop BJ Botha, has also not been selected by the Sharks.

Botha, a member of the World Cup-winning Bok squad last year before injury struck, has now gone from starting in a Test against Wales to being unwanted at provincial level in less than a fortnight.

With wing JP Pietersen having been called up to the Springbok touring squad for the Tri-Nations, the speedy Lwazi Mvovo gets a start in the number fourteen jersey.

Flyhalf Bradley Barritt is still nursing an injury, and has not yet been given the green light.

Barritt will make way for youngster Andrew Borgen at number ten should he fail a late fitness test.

There are no other changes, aside from the bench where Nikolai Blignaut, Charl McLeod, Riaan Swanepoel and Monty Dumond are all included for the first time in the competition.

Assistant coach Grant Bashford explained that he is expecting a high-paced match against the Boland Cavaliers.

"They were down something like 30 points at half-time against the Falcons last week and came back strongly at the end, so they are fit and full of running," Bashford told the official Sharks website.

"They have players who are prepared to have a go and the fact that they could score nearly 40 unanswered points in the second half last week shows how dangerous they can be."

He admits though that without any TV coverage of that match they have little to prepare against, and instead, it's about looking inward.

"We have proud record at home, haven't lost here in a while and it's not easy coming here so we will make it difficult for them.

"They got a bonus point playing away from home, but we are looking at ourselves, looking to get our own structures in place."

Springbok lock Johann Muller will once again captain the Sharks side in their second consecutive Currie Cup home game.

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Bradley Barritt/Andrew Borgen, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Steven Sykes, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Alistair Hargreaves, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Robbie Harris, 18 Nikolai Blignaut, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Riaan Swanepoel, 22 Monty Dumond.

Date: Friday, June 27
Venue: Absa Stadium, Durban
Kick-off: 19.00 (17.00 GMT)
Referee: JC Fortuin
Touch judges: Joey Salmans, Reuben Rossouw
Television match official: Willie Roos

365