Durban – Returning Springbok trio JP Pietersen, Francois Steyn and Willem Alberts have walked straight back into the Sharks' starting XV for their clash against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
Pietersen and Steyn, who only joined the Sharks in recent days due to club commitments in Japan, return to partner each other in midfield where Waylon Murray and Andre Esterhuizen make way.
Alberts, who had been sidelined with injury, comes into the loose trio for Renaldo Bothma.
“We are in a fortunate position that we have experienced Springbok players that have either recovered from injury or have returned from Japan,” director of rugby Gary Gold said on Thursday.
“We are excited to have them back and involved in our matchday squad. We also have commitments to SA Rugby to rest selected players.”
There were two changes in the front row where Jannie du Plessis and Dale Chadwick dropped out following the 43-35 defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria last week.
Englishman Matt Stevens and rising star prop Thomas du Toit would instead pack down either side of captain Bismarck du Plessis.
Tera Mtembu (knee), Stephan Lewies (knee) and Etienne Oosthuizen (knee) were all ruled out for at least a month and were not considered, along with Jean Deysel (ankle) and Tendai Mtawarira (calf) Ä the latter duo are expected to return sometime in March.
The Sharks have won just one of their opening three matches, while the Stormers were currently second having won every game this season.
“The Stormers are the in-form team in South Africa at present and we are playing them in front of their passionate home crowd,” Gold said.
“We are under no illusions about how tough the challenge is going to be.
“This is probably going to be a tougher battle than last week. Our squad has had a good training week and are determined to get our campaign back on a winning track.”
The Sharks team: SP Marais, Odwa Ndungane, JP Pietersen, Francois Steyn, Lwazi Mvovo, Patrick Lambie, Cobus Reinach, Ryan Kankowski, Willem Alberts, Marcell Coetzee, Lubabalo Mtyanda, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Matt Stevens, Bismarck du Plessis (captain), Thomas du Toit.
Replacements: Kyle Cooper, Dale Chadwick, Lourens Adriaanse, Marco Wentzel, Renaldo Bothma, Conrad Hoffmann, Andre Esterhuizen, Jack Wilson. – Sapa