Eben Etzebeth, Lukhanyo Am and Aphelele Fassi all return to the Sharks’ starting lineup for Friday night’s URC clash against Edinburgh in Scotland.
Also joining the veteran lock back in the starting side are fellow Springboks Lukhanyo Am and Aphelele Fassi, while Grant Williams returns to the bench, as coach John Plumtree has the luxury of selecting his strongest possible side for the first time in six months.
Etzebeth hasn’t featured for the Sharks since December 7, while the likes of Am and Fassi have also been absent for quite some time.
In all, there are a whopping 12 Springboks in the starting line-up for Friday’s clash, although it’s fair to say the Sharks haven’t always performed like a side loading with Bok talent, frequently punching below their weight.
“The squad is back to full strength for the first time since the game against Glasgow which is good, that was a long time ago, and hopefully we will keep all the bodies nice and healthy in the build-up to the finals,” Plumtree said.
“We’ve had good preparation, although we haven’t played for a couple of weeks, and we just want to have a good tour, try and set ourselves up for a home quarter and potentially a home semi if we win our next four games. But for now, our focus is to do well on this tour.”
This side is going to have to pull out all the stops against the high-riding Edinburgh side who last week secured a home Challenge Cup semi-final clash with Bath after defeating the Bulls in the quarter-finals.
“Edinburgh is going to be a tough game, they’re in good form and their confidence will be really high, so we know it’s going to be a tough match,” Plumtree added.
“Winning URC games away from home isn’t easy and it certainly hasn’t been easy for us as a team in the past, so it would be great if we have a good performance against Edinburgh.”
