17/04/2008 12:16

Canberra - Springbok prop Jannie du Plessis has been ruled out of the Sharks match against the Brumbies on Saturday as a precautionary measure. His place will be taken by Deon Carstens.

The Sharks assessed Du Plessis at Thursday's training session and decided not to risk further injury by playing him, according to the Sharks' website.

Training is said to have gone well and both Keegan Daniel and captain Johann Muller completed the work-out without any problem.

"We're not concentrating overly on the log, we just know what we have to do, and if we achieve what we've set out to, we'll get a home semi-final," explained coach Dick Muir.

"We'd like to reward out loyal supporters with a home semi. We know we haven't set the world alight in terms of bonus points, but the wins have been important for us."

Team:

15. Stefan Terblanche, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Francois Steyn, 12. Bradley Barritt, 11. JP Pietersen, 10. Frederic Michalak, 9. Rory Kockott, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Jacques Botes, 6. Keegan Daniel, 5. Johann Muller (captain), 4. Steven Sykes, 3. BJ Botha, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16. Craig Burden, 17. Deon Carstens, 18. Albert van den Berg, 19. AJ Venter, 20. Ruan Pienaar, 21. Waylon Murray, 22. Adrian Jacobs.