Frans Steyn and Pat Lambie have been practising with the Sharks ahead of their match against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on 5 July.

Steyn withdrew from the Bok squad before the first Test against Wales, presumably because of contractual issues with Saru and his workload this season. Lambie has not played for the Sharks since injuring a bicep against the Bulls in March.

'Frans has had two weeks off, time to chill out a bit,' said Sharks director of rugby Jake White. 'Looking at the stats, he’s played the second-most amount of rugby for us this year – behind Lwazi Mvovo – and I needed him to have some time off, which he has, and he joined us along with the squad when they all assembled here on Monday morning. He’s all ready to go.'

Lambie, meanwhile, is working hard along with the medical staff to return to action as soon as possible.

'Pat is also training with us, he has a few things to get right medically, there will be a few tests undertaken to see what he can do and what he can’t do, and once he can tick all those boxes then he’ll be ready to go,' said White. 'It all looks positive, though. It looks like he’s on track [to play in] 10 days’ time.'

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images