Lukhanyo Am return to Sharks for Connacht clash

Am is the only player amongst the Springboks who has been released to return to action for the Sharks as the Durban side face their third Irish opponent in five weeks.

"Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch both have knee injuries," head coach John Plumtree confirmed.

"Vincent will be back after three months, Bongi will be out longer, it could be the whole season. The rest of the Boks are good to go and looking forward to it, but I have left them alone during this enforced rest period. It was really important that they didn™t get a phone call from me, but next week they'll be hearing from me and we'll get them all back and see where they are individually."

Casting his eye to Saturday's opposition, Plumtree explained of Connacht that, "They're another Irish side that is pretty experienced, they have a lot of URC caps amongst the forwards, so it's going to be a great battle for our forward pack. They play dangerously, like all the Irish teams they're very unpredictable, we will have to break them down. Defensively, it is going to be tough.

"It's going to be a tough challenge for us, they're a pretty consistent side, a real threat. We're going to have to play really well and I'm hoping our energy for this first game back home is high, and that we get a good crowd that cheers us on."

Sharks - 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 2 Dylan Richardson, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 4 Corne' Rahl, 5 Emile van Heerden, 6 James Venter, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 9 Cameron Wright, 10 Curwin Bosch, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Francois Venter (c), 13 Lukhanyo Am, 14 Werner Kok, 15 Aphelele Fassi

Replacements - 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Jeandre Labuschagne, 20 Tino Mavesere, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg

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