Bosch at 10 for Sharks

The Sharks have recalled Curwin Bosch to their side and he will start at fly-half for their Super Rugby Qualifier against the Lions on Saturday.

Bosch takes over from Garth April in the number 10 jersey in the only change to their starting XV.

Amongst the reserves, Franco Marais, who has been on the sidelines with concussion, is bracketed on the bench with Stephan Coetzee, pending a late call.

The Lions start as overwhelming favourites in this game, but this is knock-out rugby and Sharks wing Kobus van Wyk suggests that the favourite tag doesn’t always work, and his team have always performed against big opposition this season.

“You never know what can happen with the underdog,” he admits.

Although they are the biblical David in this clash with Goliath, there is a measure of self-belief in the team.

“After the defeat, we obviously didn’t feel great, but we returned to training on Monday and the boys are ready, our heads are in the right place,” he said.

“After losing to them twice, hopefully it will be a case of third time lucky.

“They’re a very good outfit, but if we can put pressure on their playmakers and if our forwards pitch up and win the contests, we are going to be in business.”

Beating the Lions won’t be easy, but there is a plan and it’s about maintaining ball possession when they have it, and then closing out the opportunities.

“Keeping the ball – that’s what we need to do to win,” he points out. “Our strike rate from scrums and lineouts wasn’t that great on Saturday, so we need to make sure for the first few phases that we need to hang on to the ball.

“It would be awesome to beat them up there, the boys are really keen. We’re ready to fire.”

Sharks: 15 Lwazi Mvovo, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 S’busiso Nkosi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Philip van der Walt (c), 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais/Stephan Coetzee, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Jean Droste, 20 Tera Mtembu, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Garth April, 23 Jeremy Ward

Date: Saturday, July 22
Venue: Emirates Airlines Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 14:30 local (12:30 GMT)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Referees: Jaco van Heerden, Egon Seconds
TMO: Marius Jonker