A one-week break following the league phase of the Vodacom URC has given the teams time to prepare for the knockout rounds that take place this weekend, with the Vodacom Bulls hosting the Cell C Sharks at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria in the early afternoon derby match.

The Vodacom Bulls only just pipped the Cell C Sharks – by a solitary log point – to earn home ground advantage for the quarter-finals as late as the final round after the Durban side had led the South African charge and head coach Sean Everitt has largely stuck with the same starting XV as that named to play Ulster in Round 18.

In the only change, Le Roux Roets starts in Ruben van Heerden’s place in the second row with the remainder of the side retained for this big game. Van Heerden moves to the replacements, where he is joined by Ben Tapuai, as the KwaZulu-Natalians chose to revert back to a 5/3 split on the bench.

Saturday’s match kicks off at 13h45 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

Cell C Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Thomas du Toit (captain), 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Ben Tapuai.