Springbok fullback, Willie le Roux’s debut for the side has, however, been put on ice with the player staying behind in Durban to work on his conditioning after a stint for the Canon Eagles in Japan.

It will be a Sharks debut for Coenie Oosthuizen who linked up with the side along with Le Roux from the Toyota Cheetahs.

Oosthuizen will start at tighthead prop with Beast Mtawarira on the loosehead after the Du Plessis-brothers made a move to Montpellier in France.

Assistant coach, Robert du Preez’s two sons, Daniel and Jean-Luc, will start in the back row.

Springbok flyhalf, Pat Lambie, captains the side for the first time, while another former Cheetah, Joe Pietersen, starts at fullback.

Coach Gary Gold has named a very young and inexperienced 13-man bench.

After a poor season across the board in 2015 Gold is of the view that the match against the French Top 14 is a good opportunity to test their mettle.

"This weekend’s game is a nice opportunity to test ourselves and see how far we’ve come, with what’s been quite a lengthy pre-season.

"We’ve selected a strong side against what should be a good Toulon team.

"It’s a great opportunity for youngsters such as Jean-Luc and Daniel du Preez to get their first start in the Super Rugby squad.

"The guys are really excited and I know that we will be a bit rusty in comparison to a Toulon team that are mid-season and have been playing together for a few months, but’s that the type of challenge we wanted.”

Friday night’s match at Stade Mayol in Toulon kicks off at 20:30.

Sharks - 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Odwa Ndungane, 10 Pat Lambie (captain), 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements – 16 Francois Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20 Dave McDuling, 21 Hyron Andrews, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Michael Claassens, 24 Garth April, 25 Heimar Williams, 26 Johan Deysel, 27 Wandile Mjekevu, 28 S’bura Sithole.

Morgan Piek/OFM News