Philip van der Walt will captain the Sharks against the Vodacom Blue Bulls on Friday.

Van der Walt takes over the leadership from regular skipper Marco Wentzel, who will play off the bench, with Australian-born Dave McDuling coming in to start at No 5.

In the only other change to the starting lineup, Christiaan de Bruin will start his first match for the Sharks replacing the injured Jean-Luc du Preez at blindside flank, while Jean Deysel will make his return from injury off the bench.

Sharks – 15 Odwa Ndungane, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 S’bura Sithole, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Philip van der Walt (c), 7 Christiaan de Bruin, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Dave McDuling, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Gerhard Engelbrecht, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Subs: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Marco Wentzel, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Heimar Williams, 22 Garth April.

Photo: Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images