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Viljoen fills in for Lambie

Durban - The Sharks’ 2013 Super Rugby campaign comes to an end this Saturday when they host the Kings at Kings Park (17:05 kick-off), looking to go out with a bang, reports Sharks website editor, Michael Marnewick.

For either side there is nothing more than pride riding on this match, but certainly if recent form is to be taken into account, all suggestions would point to this match being one not worth missing.

Willem Alberts was doubtful for the match and has been included, but will play off the bench with Keegan Daniel starting at No 8 and captaining the side. Apart from that change, there are no other disruptions to the pack, although, amongst the backs, coaches Grant Bashford and Hugh Reece-Edwards have made a number of enforced changes.

Riaan Viljoen will shift from fullback to flyhalf to accommodate the loss of Patrick Lambie to a back strain and Meyer Bosman takes over from the suspended Butch James at centre.

JP Pietersen is also back from injury and he will play on the familiar wing which sees Odwa Ndungane move to fullback.

The final change comes on the bench with Fred Zeilinga named as midfield back-up in place of Jaco van Tonder.

The Sharks have looked to cut loose and fans can expect a real champagne rugby brand on display on Saturday.

“If you look at the Kings, they’ve played pretty well this season and they gave the Stormers a bit of a fright last Saturday,” said Reece-Edwards.

“When we played them last, we thought it might have been a bit easier and we were perhaps a bit too conservative and made too many mistakes. They’ve proven that they are a tough side to beat, they don’t give up and have the best tackle percentage in the competition. With that in mind, we can really expect a hard game.

“In two weeks’ time they also have a promotion-relegation match, but we can’t worry about whether or not that might be in the back of their minds. We’ve got to think about one thing and that’s this game. We just want to take it up a notch this weekend and play that exciting style of rugby.”

Teams:

Sharks:

15. Odwa Ndungane, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Louis Ludik, 12. Meyer Bosman, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Riaan Viljoen, 9. Charl McLeod, 8. Keegan Daniel (captain), 7. Jean Deysel, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Franco van der Merwe, 4. Edwin Hewitt, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Wiehahn Herbst, 18. Jandre Marais, 19. Willem Alberts, 20. Jacques Botes, 21. Cobus Reinach, 22. Fred Zeilinga

Kings:

15. Siviwe Soyizwapi, 14. Hadleigh Parkes, 13. Waylon Murray, 12. Shane Gates, 11. Marcello Sampson, 10. George Whitehead, 9. Nicolas Vergallo, 8. Jacques Engelbrecht, 7. Mpho Mbiyozo, 6. Devin Oosthuizen, 5. David Bulbring, 4. Steven Sykes (captain), 3. Kevin Buys, 2. Hannes Franklin, 1. Charl du Plessis

Substitutes: 16. Grant Kemp, 17. Bandise Maku, 18. Darron Nell, 19. Thabo Mamojelle, 20. Aidon Davis, 21. Shaun Venter, 22. Michael Killian

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