Head coach Sean Everitt has the distinct pleasure of being able to name the same match day 23 that defeated Western Province in last week’s semi-final in Cape Town, with just one rotational change – at scrumhalf – where Jaden Hendrikse will start and Sanele Nohamba playing off the bench.

The coach did speak about the disruptive nature of the Covid pandemic over the course of the season, most notably in terms of being able to consistently select the same players, and he would have been thrilled to be able to reward the same players for the chance to lift the coveted trophy.

For eighthman Sikhumbuzo Notshe, this marks a momentous achievement for the Sharks.

“We’re thrilled to have secured a place in the final but we accept that we have a massive assignment at Loftus on Saturday afternoon,” he explains. “But it’s an assignment we’re really excited about, especially as not a lot of players in our squad have been in finals, so this is a very special occasion.”

The most recent clash between the two sides was in Durban when the Sharks came away triumphant, but there were two losses in Pretoria last year which could potentially bear some scars for some sides. What about the Sharks?

“Not really, what happened in the past is in the past, although it is possible to learn from those games. What we took out of those games was that mistakes are punished. We made a lot of mistakes at Loftus we got punished for that.”

But there is a lot of confidence to take from recent past, most notably how the Cell C Sharks pack stood up to the highly-rated Province forwards in the semi-final, proving that they are not to be taken lightly themselves.

“I must compliment our pack for the resilience and energy they showed last week but we know we’re up against a very mean Bulls pack and we’ll need more of that effort this Saturday.”

Sharks - 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Marius Louw, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Dylan Richardson, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JJ van der Mescht, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Fezokuhle Mbatha, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements – 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Michael Kumbirai, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Manie Libbok. 

- Sharks