Bismarck leads star-studded Sharks
Veteran Springbok Bismarck du Plessis will lead a star-studded Sharks team in their pre-season outing against Toulon on Thursday.
The pack features four Springboks and two England Test players, while there are another four Boks in the backline.
There are three more Boks on an 11-man bench.
Apart from Du Plessis, the other Bok forwards are Marcell Coetzee, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Tendai Mtawarira.
Lock Mouritz Botha and prop Matt Stevens are full England internationals, with Stevens also having featured in midweek matches for the British and Irish Lions.
The backline internationals are Waylon Murray, Lwazi Mvovo, Pat Lambie and Cobus Reinach.
Sibusiso Sithole played Sevens for South Africa, while Lubabalo Mtembu captained the Sharks in the Currie Cup last year.
The Boks on the bench are Lourens Adriaanse, Marco Wentzel and Odwa Ndungane – with Samoan Paul Perez adding further international experience to the bench.
"This match is going to be the first really competitive game of the season, against a team that has qualified for the European Cup quarterfinals already," new Sharks Director of Rugby Gary Gold said.
"They will be more prepared than us and more game ready than us, that's the challenge.
"But the reason why we wanted to be here is to put ourselves under this kind of pressure.
"It's going to be a massive challenge, one we're very excited about.
"I'm really happy they we are going to be playing such a quality team."
Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Heimar Williams, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu, 7 Renaldo Bothma, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Bismarck du Plessis (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements – from: Kyle Cooper, Dale Chadwick, Lourens Adriaanse, Monde Hadebe, Marco Wentzel, Etienne Oosthuizen, Andre Esterhuizen, Paul Perez, Odwa Ndungane, Conrad Hoffmann, Fred Zeilinga.
Date: Thursday, February 5
Venue: Stade Mayol, Toulon
Kick-off: 21.00 (20.00 GMT; 22.00 SA time)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
