Sykes out for Sharks

Sharks coach John Plumtree has been forced to make just one change to his side for the clash with Griquas in Kimberley with lock Steven Sykes sidelined through injury.

Sykes took a knock to the ribs last weekend and won't play a role on Saturday. Instead, Jandre Marais will start, with his brother Peet replacing him on the bench.

Aside from this one change to the starting line-up, Plumtree has also gone with a five/two split on the bench, favouring the forwards with the knowledge that Griquas will look to dominate physically.

Rosko Specman misses out and Brynard Stander has an opportunity off the bench this weekend.

Following their dramatic comeback victory over the Cheetahs last week the Sharks are currently at the top of the Currie Cup standings, but Plumtree is aware that his team will have to be focused if they are to overcome Griquas who are notoriously tough on their home turf.

"I think there are some who talk themselves out of contention before they even arrive there, we have to make sure we embrace the challenge, we know what is coming," he said.

Plumtree said that one of the biggest challenges for his team will be to adapt to the conditions, and he has targeted a consistent performance to wear the dangerous Griquas down.

"It's at altitude, the ground is normally quite dry and it's quite different to playing in the major stadiums, we just have to embrace all of that and get on with it.

"We know we will go through times where we are under pressure, whenever we play at altitude, we're not quite there from a physical point of view for a period of time, so we need to get over that and attempt to play for 80 minutes because from all of our games at altitude, generally we don't.

"We've also put a huge emphasis on our defence, it's going to have to be excellent because Griquas love dominating the gain-line," he said.

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 S'bura Sithole, 10 Riaan Viljoen, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Jean Deysel (captain), 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Jandre Marais, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Monde Hadebe, 1 Dale Chadwick.

Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Peet Marais, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Marius Joubert.

Date: Saturday, September 8

Venue: GWK Park, Kimberley

Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)

Referee: Lesego Legoete

Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper, François de Bruin François

TMO: Shaun Veldsman