Ollie and Albert take a break

Ollie le Roux and Albert van den Berg have both been rested for the Sharks' penultimate Bankfin Currie Cup Section Y encounter against the Mpumalanga Pumas at Absa Stadium on Saturday.

The duo were not considered for a match the Sharks must win in order to enter the second-phase Super Eight round of the competition in a strong position. Points are only taken through to the next round from games against fellow qualifiers.

The Sharks' opponents, thwarted 36-35 by the Lions due to a last-gasp Louis Koen penalty last weekend, also harbour aspirations of joining that elite gathering. But they will need to win at least one of their last two matches - their final clash is at home to the fourth-placed SWD Eagles in Witbank the following weekend - to take one of the four places from the pool.

In this weekend's other big game, the Eagles host the Bulls in George, where referee Andre Watson finds himself in the firing line again.

Sharks coach Kevin Putt is fortunate enough to be able to draft in replacements of the calibre of Federico Mendez and Philip Smit at loosehead prop and lock respectively among six changes to the side.

There is one other change in the pack, where Brad Macleod-Henderson is given a run at No 8 in place of Shaun Sowerby.

Gaffie du Toit returns at fullback for Justin Swart - who did his hamstring in - and Andre Snyman moves from the left wing to centre, in a switch that sees Rudi Keil deployed among the replacements, and Rodger Smith back at left wing.

Sharks team:

Gaffie du Toit

Stefan Terblanche

Deon Kayser

Andre Snyman

Rodger Smith

Butch James

Nicolas Miranda

Brad Macleod-Henderson

AJ Venter

Warren Britz

Mark Andrews (captain)

Philip Smit

Deon Carstens

John Smit

Federico Mendez.

Replacements:

Etienne Fynn/Conrad Magiera, Eduard Coetzee, Charl van Rensburg, Shaun Sowerby, Neil Cole, Herkie Kruger, Rudi Keil.