B&I Lions prop starts for Sharks
Matt Stevens, a British and Irish Lions and England prop, will make his first Currie Cup start for the Sharks against the Free State Cheetahs in Durban on Saturday.
After playing off the bench in the first two rounds, the 31-year-old starts ahead of Springbok Lourens Adriaanse on the tighthead side of the scrum.
In a revamped front row Dale Chadwick will feature at loosehead in place of young Thomas du Toit.
Lock JC Astle, who took a knock against the Pumas last Friday, has failed to recover - necessitating a change in the second row. Etienne Oosthuizen moves from flank back to lock, opening the door for Francois Kleinhans who starts on the side of the scrum.
Another injury concern sees lock Stephan Lewies bracketed with Johan Meyer on the bench.
The backline remains completely unchanged.
After two wins from two starts the defending champions will look to keep their winning streak intact.
"We're very happy with where we are right now and the guys have been working really hard," head coach Brad Macleod-Henderson said.
"It's a tough competition as we said from the start, fortunately we've got through the first two games but we have another tough one on Saturday and we're looking forward to playing Free State.
"In some ways the Cheetahs are quite similar to us.
"They have lost quite a few players who have either gone overseas or are with the Springboks, so they are regrouping.
"After losing in the opening weekend, they got it right against Griquas last weekend, so we know we're in for a tough game."
Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 Paul Jordaan, 11 Tonderai Chavhanga, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu (captain), 7 Francois Kleinhans, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Dale Chadwick.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Stephan Lewies/Johan Meyer, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Heimar Williams, 22 Lionel Cronjé.
Date: Saturday, August 23
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant referees: Marius Jonker, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Jason Jaftha