Venter to lead Sharks against Cardiff

There is a number of Sharks Springboks still engaged in national duty – the Springboks take on England in the final test of the season this weekend – the Cell C Sharks team that host the side from the Welsh capital will look to both impress as well as fight for important gains.

Cardiff come to Durban off a 25-17 home loss to Edinburgh in their last VURC outing and will not want to slip up again, while the Cell C Sharks players selected for this match will take full opportunity given to them to really have a go at their visitors.

Squad depth is vital to the Cell C Sharks’ cause over the next few months and the players given this opportunity will look to really step up and deliver a powerful, victorious performance.

Two log points separate the sides, but Cardiff have played two extra games and a non-negotiable home win for the Cell C Sharks will do their title chase the world of good.

The changes for the Cell C Sharks for this match see Dian Bleuler and Carlü Sadie replacing Ntuthuko Mchunu and Thomas du Toit respectively in the front row.

Following his fine efforts off the bench, Justin Basson gets a start in the second row, with Gerbrandt Grobler shifting in place of Hyron Andrews who plays off the bench.

In the back row, James Venter takes over from Dylan Richardson on the side of the scrum while Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Phepsi Buthelezi, both fresh off their SA’A’ commitments, swap jerseys.

In the backline, Werner Kok shifts to the left wing in place of Thaakir Abrahams, with the Blitzbok star’s position on the right wing occupied by Marnus Potgieter.

Rohan Janse van Rensburg is back, Ben Tapuai moves to the bench, with van Rensburg forming a Springbok partnership with the highly-rated and vastly experienced Francois Venter who has also been given the vice-captaincy for this match.

Lionel Cronje makes a welcome return to the team and is named on the bench.

The final change sees Anthony Volmink in for Aphelele Fassi who suffered an ankle injury in his SA’A’ appearance against Munster.

Sunday’s clash kicks off at 6.10pm.

Cell C Sharks

1 Dian Bleuler, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 3 Carlü Sadie, 4 Justin Basson, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 6 James Venter (c), 7 Vincent Tshituka, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 9 Cameron Wright, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 11 Werner Kok, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 13 Francois Venter, 14 Marnus Potgieter, 15 Anthony Volmink.

Replacements

16 Dan Jooste, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Bradley Davids*, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Ben Tapuai.