Sharks coach John Plumtree has tried to keep the same team that beat the Force in Durban last week for the Cheetahs this weekend but has had to make two changes.

The only change to the Sharks starting line up is Riaan Viljoen coming in at fullback for Louis Ludik who failed to recover from a bicep injury he sustained playing against the Force.

The second change is on the bench as Willem Alberts will replace Pieter-Steph du Toit.

"The Cheetahs are an exciting attacking side, although we obviously like to attack as well, so if both sides look after the ball at the breakdown and Jonathan Kaplan rules it really well at the breakdown, we could get a really open game," said coach John Plumtree.

"I'm sure we can expect this game will be typical trench warfare," Plumtree said on the Sharks website.

The Sharks managed to prevent David Pocock from doing too much damage last week and the Sharks hope to do the same against Heinrich Brussow.

"Obviously, Heinrich Brussow is a major threat to us, but if we stick to our structures and do what we want to in terms of attack then we'll keep him quiet."

"But he'll still be a presence, and just as it was against Pocock of the Force at breakdown time, he's just one player they are relying on, and they'll be looking for other guys to feature as well."

Sharks

1. Tendai Mtawarira , 2. Bismarck du Plessis , 3. Jannie du Plessis , 4. Steven Sykes , 5. Anton Bresler , 6. Jacques Botes , 7. Marcell Coetzee , 8. Keegan Daniel (Capt) , 9. Charl McLeod , 10. Patrick Lambie , 11. Lwazi Mvovo , 12. Tim Whitehead , 13. Paul Jordaan , 14. JP Pietersen , 15. Riaan Viljoen

Replacements: , 16. Craig Burden , 17. Wiehahn Herbst , 18. Willem Alberts , 19. Jean Deysel , 20. Ryan Kankowski , 21. Frederic Michalak , 22. Meyer Bosman