The head coach said on Tuesday the shoulder injury sustained by Springbok scrumhalf Charl McLeod, in the win over the Blue Bulls last weekend, ruled him out for at least two weeks.

Conrad Hoffmann had been drafted in as his replacement.

Eugene van Staden, who was recovering from an elbow injury, has been dropped to the bench and Wiehahn Herbst comes in at prop.

The third change saw Alistair Hargreaves replace Jandre Marais at lock.

Captain Keegan Daniel will play at number eight with Jean Deysel shifting to six in a positional shift.

“We have a lot of respect for this Pumas side,” Plumtree said.

“They’ve certainly played really well all year but, right now, we’re not talking about the Pumas, we’re trying to talk about what we want to do and that’s very important.

“We just want to focus on getting a win. I’m sure they’ll want to do the same.” 

On the bench, there is a 4-3 split with Ross Cronje coming in as  scrumhalf back-up and Jacques-Louis Potgieter in to cover for flyhalf Frederic Michalak.

Sharks: Louis Ludik, Sibusiso Sithole, Stefan Terblanche, Meyer Bosman, Lwazi Mvovo, Frederic Michalak, Conrad Hoffmann, Keegan Daniel (captain), Marcell Coetzee, Jean Deysel, Ross Skeate, Alistair Hargreaves, Wiehahn Herbst, Craig Burden, Dale Chadwick.

Replacements: Kyle Cooper, Eugene van Staden, Anton Bresler, Jacques Botes, Ross Cronje, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Adrian Jacobs.