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SA duo in Sunwolves starting XV to face Sharks

Cape Town - The Sunwolves have named their team for Saturday's Super Rugby encounter against the Sharks in Singapore.

Kick-off is at 12:55 (SA time).

Two South African-born players - fullback Gerhard van den Heever and centre Shane Gates - have been named in the Japanese side's starting XV.

The Sunwolves are without a bulk of their Japanese internationals, including Michael Leitch, Keita Inagaki, Shota Horie, Fumiaki Tanaka and Kazuki Himeno, while coach Tony Brown is also away on duty with the Brave Blossoms. Assistant Scott Hansen will take charge of the side in his absence until mid-March.

Van den Heever is a former Bulls and Stormers player, while Gates previosuly played for the Southern Kings.

Teams:

Sunwolves

15 Gerhard van den Heever, 14 Semisi Masirewa, 13 Shane Gates, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 7 Ed Quirk, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 James Moore, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Asaeli Valu, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Craig Millar (captain)

Substitutes: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Sam Prattley, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Awe Helu, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Michael Little

Sharks

15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder (captain), 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Tendai Mtawarira 

Substitutes: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Phendulani Buthelezi, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Rhyno Smith, 23 Jeremy Ward

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