Sharks have a Beast of a captain
Director of Rugby Gary Gold said Mtawarira will take charge while Lambie recovers from shoulder surgery – an injury he suffered in their pre-season outing against Toulon in France earlier this month.
Lambie will be sidelined for about three months.
"We are excited to announce the appointment of Beast as stand-in Super Rugby captain in the absence of Lambie," Gold said.
"Beast has been part of our leadership group under Pat and is a respected and key member of our squad.
"Pat is still the team captain. However, his injury lay-off has necessitated an interim change in captaincy and the appointment of Beast made sense.
"He was vice-captain in our match against Toulon and when Pat went off the field, we felt that Beast did a particularly good job in that game.
"Beast has been at the Sharks for 10 years now and his heart bleeds for this team.
"He has grown in leaps and bounds as not only a player and one of the best loosehead props in the world, but as a leader and a revered member of the team."
Meanwhile Gold opted to start with the Du Preez twins, Jean-Luc and Daniel, in their opening match of the season – when they head to Port Elizabeth to take on the Kings on Saturday.
The two youngsters, the sons of Sharks assistant coach and former Springbok scrumhalf Robert du Preez, were star performances in the pre-season win over the European champions, Toulon.
The most significant selection is veteran utility back Joe Pietersen at flyhalf, ahead of young Garth April.
Sharks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Tendai Mtawarira (captain).
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Dave McDuling, 20 Philip van der Walt, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Garth April, 23 Sibusiso Sithole.
Date: Saturday, February 27
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Rodney Bonaparte (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
