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Durban - The Sharks team to play the Blue Bulls in Saturday’s Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria sees enforced changes to the starting line-up which provides a new opportunity for youngsters at this level.
With Craig Burden having been called up to the Springbok touring squad to Argentina following the loss of Bismarck du Plessis to injury, Monde Hadebe, the former Sharks Under 21 captain, gets a great opportunity to prove his worth while Franco Marais is elevated from his current role with the Sharks Under 21s onto the Sharks bench as back-up.
According to Sharks website editor, Michael Marnewick, Meyer Bosman will not be risked this weekend after injuring his knee against the Lions which sees Springbok Marius Joubert coming into the starting line-up.
Sharks coach John Plumtree has opted for a five-two split on the bench which opens the door for another young player, Brynard Stander, who will earn his first cap for The Sharks should he play.
As the only unbeaten side in the tournament, the Sharks go into this match with confidence that they are doing some things right, although they have accepted that they have some work to do in order to spend more time with ball in hand and then closing out those opportunities either presented to them, or created.
“Obviously confidence comes with winning, so there is definitely a belief in this group that they can win,” explains Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford.
“The nice thing for us is that we don’t feel that we have played particularly well; in Cape Town there was a whole lot of room for improvement and there were aspects of our game against the Lions where we felt we weren’t good enough, but despite having got some things wrong and still won, that gives us confidence.
“So we have some things to work on but certainly winning brings confidence to the group.”
The clash at Loftus kicks off at 19:10 on Saturday.
Teams:
Blue Bulls:
15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Clayton Blommetjies, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 CJ Stander, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Cornell Hess, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Rudi Paige, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Jan Serfontein
Sharks:
15. Louis Ludik 14. Odwa Ndungane 13. Paul Jordaan 12. Marius Joubert 11. S'bura Sithole 10. Riaan Viljoen 9. Charl McLeod 8. Jacques Botes 7. Jean Deysel (Captain) 6. Francois Kleinhans 5. Anton Bresler 4. Steven Sykes 3. Wiehahn Herbst 2. Monde Hadebe 1. Dale Chadwick
Substitutes: 16. Franco Marais 17. Julian Redelinghuys 18. Jandre Marais 19. Lubabalo “Tera” Mtembu 20. Brynard Stander 21. Cobus Reinach 22. Gouws Prinsloo
With Craig Burden having been called up to the Springbok touring squad to Argentina following the loss of Bismarck du Plessis to injury, Monde Hadebe, the former Sharks Under 21 captain, gets a great opportunity to prove his worth while Franco Marais is elevated from his current role with the Sharks Under 21s onto the Sharks bench as back-up.
According to Sharks website editor, Michael Marnewick, Meyer Bosman will not be risked this weekend after injuring his knee against the Lions which sees Springbok Marius Joubert coming into the starting line-up.
Sharks coach John Plumtree has opted for a five-two split on the bench which opens the door for another young player, Brynard Stander, who will earn his first cap for The Sharks should he play.
As the only unbeaten side in the tournament, the Sharks go into this match with confidence that they are doing some things right, although they have accepted that they have some work to do in order to spend more time with ball in hand and then closing out those opportunities either presented to them, or created.
“Obviously confidence comes with winning, so there is definitely a belief in this group that they can win,” explains Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford.
“The nice thing for us is that we don’t feel that we have played particularly well; in Cape Town there was a whole lot of room for improvement and there were aspects of our game against the Lions where we felt we weren’t good enough, but despite having got some things wrong and still won, that gives us confidence.
“So we have some things to work on but certainly winning brings confidence to the group.”
The clash at Loftus kicks off at 19:10 on Saturday.
Teams:
Blue Bulls:
15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Clayton Blommetjies, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 CJ Stander, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Cornell Hess, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Rudi Paige, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Jan Serfontein
Sharks:
15. Louis Ludik 14. Odwa Ndungane 13. Paul Jordaan 12. Marius Joubert 11. S'bura Sithole 10. Riaan Viljoen 9. Charl McLeod 8. Jacques Botes 7. Jean Deysel (Captain) 6. Francois Kleinhans 5. Anton Bresler 4. Steven Sykes 3. Wiehahn Herbst 2. Monde Hadebe 1. Dale Chadwick
Substitutes: 16. Franco Marais 17. Julian Redelinghuys 18. Jandre Marais 19. Lubabalo “Tera” Mtembu 20. Brynard Stander 21. Cobus Reinach 22. Gouws Prinsloo
