Stormers v Sharks: Teams

De Villiers: Will start for the home side

Springbok centre Jean de Villiers and wing Bryan Habana will start for the Stormers against the Sharks at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.

De Villiers joins Jaque Fourie in midfield, replacing fellow international Juan de Jongh, while Habana replaces Danie Poolman on the wing.

Stormers pivot Peter Grant is still struggling to make the starting XV with a knee injury, with fly-half Lionel Cronje on standby while Kurt Coleman will provide further cover from the bench.

Rynhardt Elstadt is the only change to the forwards, replacing De Kock Steenkamp at lock.

Sharks coach John Plumtree has made three changes to his starting line-up with Keegan Daniel starting in place of Jacques Botes, who suffered an ankle injury against the Hurricanes last week.

Botes reted

Botes will be rested and this opens the door for Jean Deysel, who is among the replacements having returned to match fitness after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Jannie du Plessis and Eugene van Staden swap positions while brother Bismarck returns to the side and will play off the bench following the shoulder injury that kept him out of last Saturday's game with captain John Smit playing at hooker.

In the final change, Odwa Ndungane returns after playing off the bench, with the in-form Lwazi Mvovo named amongst the replacements, joined by lock Alistair Hargreaves, who is over the injury that kept him out of action for two matches.

"We're looking forward to this game and I'm sure they're looking forward to having us," said Plumtree.

"I'm sure everyone is looking forward to watching it. It's one of those contests between two sides who are both going well right now."

Stormers: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant/Lionel Cronje, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Brok Harris, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Nick Koster, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Lionel Cronje/Kurt Coleman, 22 Juan de Jongh.

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (capt), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Lwazi Mvovo.