Sharks v Stormers: Teams

Tendai "Beast" Mtawariwa and JP Pietersen are coach John Plumtree's only two changes for the Sharks' Super Rugby clash with the Stormers in Durban on Saturday.

Mtawarira comes in at loosehead prop with John Smit dropping to the bench as cover for Bismarck du Plessis at hooker, while Eugene van Staden covers both sides of the scrum.

Pietersen is given a start on the left wing with Lwazi Mvovo getting a breather after starting the last three games and takes his place on the bench.

Jacques-Louis Potgieter has been passed fit after suffering a calf strain in last Sunday's match and retains his place at fly-half.

Stefan Terblanche will lead his side out on Saturday in his 112th Super Rugby match.

The Stormers have been boosted by the return of captain Schalk Burger, who recovered from a knee injury just over a week ago but was given an extra week to prepare for what is usually an uncompromising, bruising encounter.

The loose forward returns in place of ever-improving flanker Pieter Louw who will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

Cover

Another change in the pack sees lock Rynhardt Elstadt return from injury at the expense of De Kock Steenkamp who will provide cover on the bench.

In another switch among the replacements, Siyabonga Ntubeni makes way for more experienced hooker Ethienne Reyneke, and rookie Gary van Aswegen is preferred to Lionel Cronje.

Stormers' coach Allister Coetzee has no reservations about Burger's match fitness.

"He's been on the training field after his injury for a quite a while and we have no doubt that he'll be up for the match," said Coetzee.

Coetzee said the Stormers' chances of success in Durban would depend on their performance in set-pieces, as well as their accuracy at the breakdown play.

The Stormers are the only unbeaten team left in the Super Rugby competition, and lead the South African Conference and overall log.

"It is good to be on top of the log, but that says nothing," said Coetzee. "It's still way too early to be getting excited about that.

"It's all about being up for the next game, and there are still 12 to 15 weeks ahead of us where we have to keep doing that."

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik 14 Odwa Ndungane 13 Stefan Terblanche (Capt) 12 Meyer Bosman 11 J-P Pietersen 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter 9 Charl McLeod 8 Ryan Kankowski 7 Willem Alberts 6 Keegan Daniel 5 Alistair Hargreaves 4 Steven Sykes 3 Jannie du Plessis 2 Bismarck du Plessis 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 John Smit 17 Eugene van Staden 18 Gerhard Mostert 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Conrad Hoffmann 21 Adrian Jacobs 22 Lwazi Mvovo.

Stormers: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean De Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermuelen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 CJ Van Der Linde, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Nick Koster, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Gary Van Aswegen, 22 Juan De Jongh.