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Chavhanga wings it for Sharks

Durban -  The Cell C Sharks backline shows two injury-enforced changes for this Saturday’s Super Rugby derby clash against the visiting Cheetahs at Kings Park, reports Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick.

Odwa Ndungane’s upper shoulder knock sustained in the 25-12 win over the Lions in Johannesburg last week sees him replaced by Tonderai Chavhanga who has been getting game time for the Sharks XV in the Vodacom Cup following his return from injury.

Chavhanga will make his debut for the Sharks at this level.

His six tries on debut for the Springboks remains a record and he went on to play in four Tests for South Africa between 2005 and 2008. The other change comes at flyhalf where Fred Zeilinga is replaced by Tim Swiel.

In a purely rotational switch, Keegan Daniel will start at No 8 with Ryan Kankowski getting a well-deserved breather, having started all seven of the previous matches his season.

Heimar Williams, who replaced Paul Jordaan on the bench shortly before the Lions game, remains there with the latter still sidelined.

Assessing the Cheetahs, Director of Rugby Jake White acknowledged the fact that it is the team with the best attack against the team with the best defence. In the Cell C Sharks’ defence, they have the second best attack in the competition (and have played one match less than the Cheetahs).

“We have the least number of points scored against us in the competition, we’re the team with the best defensive record and interestingly enough, they have the highest number of points for, although they have the highest number of points scored against them as well,” White pointed out.

“As a coach, you know they are dangerous with ball in hand but there are opportunities to score against them because they are so attack orientated.

“What they’ve gone for is all-out attack, so when they turn the ball over, players aren’t in a defensive mindset or positions, so they can leak tries. But the most important thing for us is that it is an opportunity to play against another team with a different style. The Reds have a unique style, the Bulls have a unique style, the Waratahs have a unique style and this Cheetahs side obviously have a style that suits them and works for them. But they probably haven’t had the reward they want.”

Kick-off is at 15:00 on Saturday.

Teams:

Sharks:

15. Lwazi Mvovo, 14. Tonderai Chavhanga, 13. S’bura Sithole, 12. Frans Steyn, 11. JP Pietersen, 10. Tim Swiel, 9. Charl McLeod, 8. Keegan Daniel, 7. Jean Deysel, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Stephan Lewies, 4. Willem Alberts, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis (captain), 1. Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Dale Chadwick, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Etienne Oosthuizen, 20. Ryan Kankowski, 21. Stefan Ungerer, 22. Heimar Williams, 23. SP Marais

Cheetahs:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Hennie Daniller, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jean Cook, 7 Boom Prinsloo, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Nicolaas van Dyk, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen

Substitutes: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Andries Ferreira, 20 Teboho Mohoje, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Riaan Smith, 23 Raymond Rhule
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