CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – OCTOBER 27: Aphelele Fassi of the Cell C Sharks and Sergeal Petersen of DHL Western Province during the Currie Cup final match between DHL Western Province and Cell C Sharks at DHL Newlands on October 27, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
Super Rugby squads: Fassi starts at fullback for the Sharks in Singapore
The Sharks hot young prospect Aphelele Fassi will start his first Super Rugby game at fullback with Lwazi Mvovo and Curwin Bosch absent. The Sharks travel to Singapore to take on a cosmopolitan Sunwolves side and have been forced to press Robert du Preez jnr back into action sooner than they might have hoped after […]
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – OCTOBER 27: Aphelele Fassi of the Cell C Sharks and Sergeal Petersen of DHL Western Province during the Currie Cup final match between DHL Western Province and Cell C Sharks at DHL Newlands on October 27, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
The Sharks hot young prospect Aphelele Fassi will start his first Super Rugby game at fullback with Lwazi Mvovo and Curwin Bosch absent.
The Sharks travel to Singapore to take on a cosmopolitan Sunwolves side and have been forced to press Robert du Preez jnr back into action sooner than they might have hoped after Bosch picked up an injury in the warm-up against the Bulls in Ballito.
Semisi Masirewa will line up against the Sharks Makazole Mapimpi while on the other wing Rene Ranger will have his hands full keeping Sbu Nkosi quiet.
At one time touted as being quicker than Bryan Habana Sunwolves fullback and former Blue Bull Gerhard van den Heever could be looking to prove a point against South African opposition.
The Sharks all star centre pairing of Lukhanyo Am and Andre Esterhuizen are backed up by the presence of the hard-tackling Jeremy Ward.
Scottish centre Phil Burleigh keeps Kiwi Michael Little on the Sunwolves bench as he takes up a position between Hayden Parker and South African centre Shane Gates, formerly of the Kings.
Scrumhalf Kaito Shigeno is the only member of the Sunwolves starting XV to be born in Japan.
Kerron van Vuuren, Khutha Mchunu and Phendulani Buthelezi will all make their Sharks Super Rugby debuts when they come off the bench in Singapore. The heat in South East Asia will almost certainly mean that both sides will empty their benches.
The Sharks should be well be prepared for the heat after enduring a sweat bath in Ballito last weekend.
Super Rugby squads: Sunwolves v Sharks
Sunwolves: 15 Gerhard van den Heever, 14 Semisi Masirewa, 13 Shane Gates, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco, 7 Ed Quirk, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 James Moore, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Asaeli Ai Valu, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Craig Millar
Subs: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Sam Prattley, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Michael Little.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder (c), 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Subs: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Phendulani Buthelezi, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Rhyno Smith, 23 Jeremy Ward.
Match venue: National Stadium, Singapore
Match date: Saturday 16 February
Kick off time: 12:55 SAST
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Minoru Fuji (Japan)
