John Plumtree, coach of the Sharks rugby team from Durban, selected a strong team on Thursday to play Western Province in Saturday's clash between the top two teams in South Africa's domestic Currie Cup competition.

Despite a couple of injury concerns early in the week, Ryan Kankowski, Louis Ludik and Willem Alberts have all be declared fit and ready to start for the Sharks.

They are joined in the starting line-up by Beast Mtawarira and Bismarck du Plessis, who both play in the front row for South Africa's national team, the Springboks.

Western Province top the South African Currie Cup log with 27 points. The Sharks have 26.