Sharks rope in Baby Bok star

Bosch, nominated by World Rugby as one of five contenders for the Under-20 championships Player of the Tournament, has been named on the Sharks bench ahead of their Super Rugby Round 16 encounter with the Cheetahs in Durban.

Having turned 19 only last month, Bosch made his Sharks debut in the Currie Cup qualifying competition earlier this year.

However, the Baby Bok No.15 will make his Super Rugby debut if he comes off the bench at Kings Park on Saturday.

Another noteworthy selection is exciting young fullback Rhyno Smith, who has been handed his first start in the penultimate round of league actuion.

Smith, the Player that Rocks at the 2015 Varsity Cup, impressed after he came off the bench in last week's clash with the Lions.

The other significant change to the starting XV will see veteran Sprigbok Coenie Oosthuizen comin in for Lourens Adriaanse in the tighthead psoition in the front row.

The Cheetahs, currently 13th on the 18-team table, are out of the running for the play-offs.

However, they could still have an impact on the final standings.

The Sharks and Bulls - eight and 10th on the standings, just three points apart - are in a race with the Stormers (third and nine points ahead of the Bulls in Africa One conference) for the two remaining play-off spots from the combined Africa conference.

The Lions have already booked their place in the quarterfinals and have also wrapped up the Africa Two conference, leaving the Sharks (on 35 points) to chase the Africa wildcard slot.

And they will contest that place with whoever of the Stormers (41 points with two games remaining) and Bulls (32 points, two matches remaining) don't finish first in Africa One.

Sharks: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Jon-Paul Pietersen, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Garth April, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Tendai Mtawarira (captain).

Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Ruan Botha, 20 Lubabalo Mtembu, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Heimar Williams, 23 Curwin Bosch.

Date: Saturday, July 9

Venue: Kings Park, Durban

Kick-off: 19.15 (17.15 GMT)

Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa), Archie Sehlako (South Africa)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)