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Canberra - The Sharks have made two changes to their starting line-up for Saturday's clash against the Brumbies in Canberra.
One change is enforced, with Springbok Stephan Lewies coming in to replace Etienne Oosthuizen who misses this match and next week’s home game against the Waratahs with suspension.
The other change sees French fullback Clement Poitrenaud swapping places with Curwin Bosch, who will play off the bench.
Head coach Robert du Preez had hinted this week that there might be a change or two from last week’s line-up against the Reds.
"The boys are in good spirits, we’ve had a good training week and our focus will be on our discipline and on our exit - we need to get more territory on our exits," Du Preez said.
"The Brumbies are probably better organised defensively than the Reds, and as an all-round team they’re well coached by Stephen Larkham. It’s going to be a tough one in a tough environment.
"Etienne Oosthuizen is a big loss but we have a very good replacement in Stephan Lewies. Our squad depth is really important and the guys that come into the starting line-up have to use their opportunity."
Last week’s centurion, Lwazi Mvovo, admits that while they have done their homework on their opponents, it’s really about making sure they accomplish their own goals.
"The Brumbies are a quality side and they played very well against the Crusaders, but it’s more about what we want to do and about executing our game plan," he said.
"This is a very important game for us, we have a plan for this tour and we pretty much want to win this match, so it’s about getting our game plan right and getting over the little hurdle we had in the first game.
"We really want to end the tour on a high note."
Kick-off on Saturday is at 10:45.
Teams:
Brumbies
15 Aidan Toua, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 James Dargaville, 10 Wharenui Hawera, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Jordan Smiler, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Josh Mann-Rea, 1 Nic Mayhew
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Abel, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Leslie Leulua’iali’i-Makin, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Lolo Fakaosilea, 21 De Wet Roos, 22 Andrew Smith, 23 Isaac Thompson
Sharks
15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie (captain), 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Jean Droste, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Curwin Bosch
