Durban - The Sharks have included all their discarded Springboks in their squad to take on the Lions in their top-of-the-table Currie Cup clash at Coca-Cola in Johannesburg Saturday afternoon.

As matters stand, the Lions are one point ahead of The Sharks and the winner will go into the halfway stage on top of the log.

Coach John Plumtree has not fiddled much with the team that defeated the Leopards last week, although he has been bolstered by the release of the Bok players and has the fortune of enjoying continuity going into a match that both sides would hate to lose.

Stefan Terblanche comes back into the midfield where he partners Meyer Bosman, while Lwazi Mvovo is back from the Boks to play on the wing with Odwa Ndungane lost to the Rugby World Cup squad.

In other changes, Charl McLeod starts at scrumhalf while Keegan Daniel is back at flank with Jacques Botes and Jean Deysel providing loose forward cover from the bench and Jan Andre Marais sitting alongside them.

With only two backs named on a bench loaded with five forwards, Plumtree told Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick that, “We decided to go with the 5-2 split early in the week obviously because of the altitude and there are going to be a couple of big games coming up and to be able to freshen up in the second half is going to be important.”

The Lions aren’t top of the log for nothing and enjoy the fruits of consistency in squad make-up for the entire season – able to kick-off from their Vodacom Super Rugby campaign without any major disruptions.

“The Lions are a lot more organised now, they’re starting to believe in what they’re doing, they’ve got some consistency to their performances and when you get that and get some success, you start believing. They have a bit more belief and trust in one another and that’s important.”

Teams:

Golden Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Josh Strauss (captain), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Wikus van Heerden, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Doppies La Grange, 22 Burton Francis

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik 14 Sibusiso Sithole 13 Stefan Terblanche 12 Meyer Bosman 11 Lwazi Mvovo 10 Frederic Michalak 9 Charl McLeod 8 Ryan Kankowski 7 Marcell Coetzee 6 Keegan Daniel (captain) 5 Ross Skeate 4Anton Bresler 3 Wiehahn Herbst 2 Craig Burden 1 Dale Chadwick

Substitutes: 16 Kyle Cooper 17 Eugene van Staden 18 Jan Andre Marais 19 Jean Deysel 20Jacques Botes 21 Conrad Hoffmann 22 Adrian Jacobs