The Sharks welcome back key players as they try to earn some goodwill from the Kings Park faithful when they face Ulster on Saturday afternoon.
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The Sharks have some of their big guns back and John Plumtree is thrilled to field a team that is almost at full strength.
“This is a team I’ve been wanting to select for a while,” said Sharks coach John Plumtree.
“We are getting our squad back.
He also said: “We just want to get going with a good performance.
“We are also looking to create some competition in the squad.
“There hasn’t really been enough pressure on players for selection.
“That makes players comfortable and complacent.
“A full-strength Sharks has competition for places and that’s what we want.
“We’ve got three months of the season left.
“We see it as a really exciting time for us.”
After defeating Dragons RFC at home by a bonus point, Ulster intend to continue where they left off in the first of two games in South Africa over the following two weekends.
After returning from Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations campaign, captain Iain Henderson leads the team as he lines up with fellow lock Kieran Treadwell, who makes his first appearance since a rib injury suffered against Harlequins RFC in January.
Murphy picks a potent front row that has tighthead prop Tom O’Toole, hooker Tom Stewart, and Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff packing down.
David McCann starts on the openside, while Harry Sheridan starts at blindside flanker in the thrilling back row. Eight is when Nick Timoney starts.
Billy Burns and John Cooney together make up the half back duo.
Ethan McIlroy starts on the right wing, while Mike Lowry starts on the left.
Following his time in Ireland, Stuart McCloskey rejoins the starting lineup and is paired with James Hume, the captain of his province during the victory over Dragons RFC.
Teams
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Ethan Hooker, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 George Cronje, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Francois Venter.
Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Ethan McIlroy, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Mike Lowry, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 David McCann, 6 Harry Sheridan, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Matty Rea, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jude Postlethwaite, 23 Sean Reffell.
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