Sharks surprise with Lambie

The Sharks, chasing the African wildcard slot in the Super Rugby play-offs, must beat the Sunwolves in Durban on Friday to book their spot.

After saying earlier in the week that there was "no change" in Lambie's condition and that he still has concussion symptoms - the result of a sickening clash with Ireland's South African-born flank Christiaan Stander in the first Test at Newlands on June 11 - Gold on Wednesday bracketed Lambie on the bench.

Lambie has been pencilled in along with Curwin Bosch on the bench.

"Hopefully Pat will be back sooner rather than later, but you can't mess around with concussion and we certainly won't," Gold said at a media briefing earlier in the week.

Gold made a number of changes to his team.

Jean-Luc du Preez took a knock on the weekend and was struggling with a bit of concussion and has been rested this week - with Lubabalo Mtembu starting in his place.

Gold confirmed the Springbok fullback Willie le Roux wasn't available this week, as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury he suffered in June, but remains optimistic that he will be available next week.

While Gold had pointed to looking at giving combinations the opportunity to gel ahead of the knock-outs, he admitted that there was a temptation to rest some of his players - particularly the Boks who had carried a heavy workload over June.

"We've given Beast [Tendai Mtawarira] a rest, as he played every Test match, and we have every confidence in guys like Thomas du Toit and Dale Chadwick," Gold said.

"It's about getting the balance right: there's not point in pushing a guy to the limit this week if he's not going to be available next week.

"And in trying to get the balance right, the last two weeks' selections have been difficult.

"You want to perform well but you don't necessarily want to pick a new-look team where everyone feels like he has to start from scratch."

It is also rather fitting that JP Pietersen, the Sharks most capped Super Rugby player and top try-scorer, has been chosen to lead the side in his final farewell home match over a career in Durban spanning more than 10 years.

Sharks: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 JP Pietersen (captain), 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Garth April, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Lubabalo Mtembu, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Jean Deysel, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Curwin Bosch/Pat Lambie, 23 Heimar Williams.

Date: Friday, July 15

Venue: Kings Park, Durban

Kick-off: 19.00 (17.00 GMT; 02.00 Saturday, July 16 Japan time)

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Archie Sehlako (South Africa)

TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)