The Cell C Sharks have brought back several big guns for Saturday night’s New Year’s Eve Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with the Vodacom Bulls in Durban.
The HollywoodBets Kings Park game will see the return to the engine room of Springbok enforcer Eben Etzebeth, while two further first-choice Boks in loosehead prop Ox Nche and hooker Bongi Mbonambi will bolster the front row. With tighthead prop Thomas du Toit also being an international player, it means that lock Gerbrandt Grobler is the only non-international in the Sharks tight five.
Bok World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi also returns to the starting team after playing off the bench last week. He will lead the side as part of a revamped loose trio that includes Henco Venter as the blindside flank and has Sikhumbuzo Notshe returning at No 8 in what looks like a rotational swop with Phepsi Buthelezi.
There is just one change to the backline that did duty in the good win over the Emirates Lions last week, with Marnus Potgieter coming in on the wing for the injured Werner Kok.
The Sharks have an interesting bench in the sense that Yaw Penxe, the pacy wing, is back, while Jaden Hendrikse, who spent much of the international season as the first choice Bok No 9, continues to back up Grant Williams when he wears Sharks colours.
The Bulls will arrive in Durban smarting from their comprehensive defeat to the Stormers in last weekend’s big north/south clash so it is unsurprising that Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell has gone with his strongest team for this game.
The Sharks are currently 10 points behind the Bulls on the log but have two games in hand, and they also have one game in hand on the Stormers, who are way out in front on the South African Shield log with 39 points, 15 more than the Durbanites.
The derby will be followed by a concert and New Year’s party at Kings Park so there are hopes of a massive turnout at the game, which will be played in the early evening (16.45).
Cell C Sharks team: Boeta Chamberlain, Marnus Potgieter, Lukhanyo Am, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi (captain), Gerbrandt Grobler, Eben Etzebeth, Thomas du Toit, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Dian Bleuler, Carlu Sadie, Hyron Andrews, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jaden Hendrikse, Lionel Cronje, Yaw Penxe.