Sharks v Stormers: Teams

Gerhard van den Heever: Moves up from the Stormers' bench into the starting line-up

John Plumtree: Warned the Sharks will have to be at their best to see off the Stormers

The Sharks host the Stormers in Durban on Saturday in a crunch clash of in-form sides.

The hosts go into the game on the back of a three-match winning run, while the Stormers have been victorious in their last four.

Sharks coach John Plumtree has warned that his team will have to be at their best to see off the Stormers as they to consolidate their sixth and final play-off spot.

"They're top of the log, an outstanding side and very clinical in what they do," he said.

"They have enjoyed a lot of continuity in selection and they're a very efficient outfit, so we know that we're going to have to play very well to beat them on the weekend."

He is looking for another win ahead of next week's final match against the Lions before the international break.

"We've focused on the five games leading into the break and played three of them and have two to go and we're looking good," he added.

Pat Lambie has been named in a Sharks side that shows changes to last week's team that beat the Cheetahs.

Although he was originally named to play, Lambie was forced to miss last week's game with a bout of flu but has recovered to feature this weekend.

Fred Michalak has retained his place in the fly-half position after an excellent outing last week which means Lambie will slot in at full-back.

Willem Alberts will start on the side of the scrum, while the final change to the starting line-up sees Meyer Bosman drafted in for Tim Whitehead who will be rested this weekend because of a tight groin complaint.

Among the replacements, Pieter-Steph du Toit comes in for Jean Deysel and Louis Ludik is back after missing last week's game with a severely bruised arm.

Challenge

Fresh off a 19-13 win against the Waratahs, opposite number Allister Coetzee insists the Stormers will be up the challenge.

"The Stormers won't have a problem being up for the challenge because they will not want to embarrass themselves," he said.

"The quality of the Sharks is such that you must be up for the challenge otherwise they'll destroy you."

Coetzee will be minus full-back Joe Pietersen, whose absence is the only injury enforced change while there is one positional change to the starting XV that beat the Waratahs.

Gerhard van den Heever moves up from the bench to right wing, in for the injured Pietersen, while Gio Aplon shifts from right wing to full-back.

Captain of the victorious Western Province team, Nick Fenton-Wells, is the only change to the bench.

Sharks: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel (Capt), 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Odwa Ndungane, 22 Louis Ludik.

Stormers: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (capt), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Don Armand, 20 Nick Fenton-Wells, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Burton Francis.

Click here for more betting