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Pretorius to start against WP?

Johannesburg - It looks like Springbok Andre Pretorius, and not Patrick Lambie, will start at flyhalf for the Sharks against Western Province in the ABSA Currie Cup league match in Cape Town.

Pretorius excelled in the Sharks’ big win over the Leopards in Durban last weekend. It was Pretorius’ first full game at this level for a couple of years as he has been injury plagued over a long period and has hardly played since the 2007 World Cup.

The former Lions pivot moved to Durban to play for the Sharks on a game by game basis as the Sharks were not prepared to risk giving him a full contract due to his long history with injury. However, under the guidance of coach John Plumtree, the Sharks conditioning team have worked hard on building up the strength in Pretorius’ leg muscles and he has returned to the game looking surprisingly confident.

While young Lambie has been outstanding for the Sharks since moving to flyhalf, and is obviously still very much part of the plans, Plumtree is mindful of what Pretorius can bring in terms of experience and goal-kicking during the knock-out phases.

“We have been very pleased with Pat and he has played really well for us, but we are going into a tough phase of the competition now and I feel that Andre might just be able to offer us something important towards the end of knock-out games if they are close,” said Plumtree.

“He kicked well against the Leopards, and obviously accurate goalkicking is extremely important at this stage of competition. But while Andre played well against the Leopards, we need to know that it was against the Leopards, who with all due respect, are not the strongest team in the competition.

“I would like to see him get a proper work-out against a strong team, and that opportunity will present itself against WP.”

Of course, the Sharks are going to Newlands without any pressure to win the game as they have already finished top in the competition. It does present an ideal chance to experiment, although it does need to be noted that if Lambie is still the first choice flyhalf, which he should be after the great season he has had, then he also needs to get a good run against WP after only playing off the bench last week.

The smart money should be on both of them getting a half against WP, although there is the other possibility which is not at all unattractive for Sharks - that of Lambie playing inside centre, where he was good before making the switch inside.

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