Michalak fit for Force

French fly-half Frederic Michalak has been cleared to play for the Sharks against the Western Force in Durban on Friday.

French fly-half shakes off injury concerns to wear No.10 jersey

French fly-half Frederic Michalak has been cleared to play for the Sharks against the Western Force in Durban on Friday. Originally bracketed in with Francois Steyn because of a slight calf injury sustained at training, the France international has recovered and been cleared to start at No.10 for the Sharks. His inclusion means that Steyn, who played in the Rugby World Cup final for the Springboks at No.12 will revert back to full-back. This means that the bench has a slightly different look to the one named earlier in the week when there were still doubts over Michalak's fitness. Coach Dick Muir has named a 5-2 split on the bench with a complete front row on standby together with Albert van den Berg and Jean Deysel covering lock and loose forward respectively. Rory Kockott will provide cover at fly-half and scrum-half, with versatile Adi Jacobs covering the outside backs. Sharks: 15 Francois Steyn, 14 Henno Mentz, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 AJ Venter, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Kees Lensing, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Albert van den Berg, 20 Jean Deysel, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Adrian Jacobs.