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Sharks shake up pack for final

Cape Town - Sharks coach John Plumtree has rolled out the heavy artillery for their Currie Cup final against Western Province in Durban on Saturday.

Plumtree on Wednesday retained the same backline which started in the 20-3 semi-final win over the Blue Bulls last week, but brought back a few heavies to bolster his pack for the Kings Park showpiece.

In the front row Springbok Tendai Mtawarira starts at loosehead prop in place of Dale Chadwick, with Bok squad member Craig Burden replacing Kyle Cooper at hooker. Jannie du Plessis - cleared after suffering concussion against the Bulls - remains at tighthead.

In other changes up front, Willem Alberts replaces Jean Deysel at flank, while Steven Sykes starts ahead of Jandre Marais at lock.

Odwa Ndungane also returns on the bench after an injury lay-off. Plumtree this time went for 4-3 forwards-backs split on the bench, which means prop Chadwick misses out altogether.

The final kicks off at 17:00.

Teams:

Sharks:

15. Louis Ludik 14. JP Pietersen 13. Paul Jordaan12. Tim Whitehead 11. Lwazi Mvovo 10. Patrick Lambie 9. Cobus Reinach 8. Keegan Daniel (captain) 7. Willem Alberts 6. Marcell Coetzee 5. Anton Bresler 4. Steven Sykes 3. Jannie du Plessis 2. Craig Burden 1. Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16. Kyle Cooper 17. Wiehahn Herbst 18. Jandre Marais 19. Jean Deysel 20. Charl McLeod 21. Meyer Bosman 22. Odwa Ndungane

Western Province:

15. Gio Aplon, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Demetri Catrakilis, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Don Armand, 6. Deon Fourie (captain), 5. De Kock Steenkamp, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Deon Carstens, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19. Jebb Sinclair, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Marcel Brache, 22. Joe Pietersen
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