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Christo Buchner
Johannesburg – While the Lions are delighted with the progress of new flyhalf sensation Elton Jantjes, the Sharks may well have a crisis at No 10 in Saturday’s Currie Cup match in Durban.
Springbok Ruan Pienaar has a shoulder injury and is therefore in a race against time to play for the Sharks before the end of the month.
Team doctor Ewoudt van der Linde believes Pienaar may be sidelined for between three and four weeks. He will be continuing his career at Ulster after the Tri-Nations and therefore it’s unlikely that he will play for the Durbanites again.
There is also a big question mark behind his participation in the historic clash between the Springboks and All Blacks at Soccer City on 21 August.
Pienaar made an impact in the win over Free State when he slotted in at flyhalf. The next few weeks may therefore have been an opportunity to make his mark in the position.
To make matters worse, Steve Meyer is struggling with a hamstring injury and the chances are slim that he will be able to play against the Lions.
Fullback Louis Ludik is struggling with a knee injury, but trained with the team on Monday. Van der Linde believes that Ludik will be ready to take on the Lions. It will be the first time since his move to the Sharks that Ludik plays against his former province.
Monty Dumond is likely to wear the No 10 jumper if both Pienaar and Meyer are ruled out.
Another option might be to move Patrick Lambie from centre to flyhalf, but the coaches are unlikely to want to break up the successful centre pairing of Lambie and Stefan Terblanche.
Meanwhile, New Zealand coaches John Plumtree (Sharks) and John Mitchell (Lions) will also be battling it out for the Hawera Trophy. This is a competion between the two coaches who both grew up in the town of Hawera in Taranaki.
Plumtree currently holds the trophy after the Sharks won their Super14 match against Mitchell’s Force earlier this year.
Johannesburg – While the Lions are delighted with the progress of new flyhalf sensation Elton Jantjes, the Sharks may well have a crisis at No 10 in Saturday’s Currie Cup match in Durban.
Springbok Ruan Pienaar has a shoulder injury and is therefore in a race against time to play for the Sharks before the end of the month.
Team doctor Ewoudt van der Linde believes Pienaar may be sidelined for between three and four weeks. He will be continuing his career at Ulster after the Tri-Nations and therefore it’s unlikely that he will play for the Durbanites again.
There is also a big question mark behind his participation in the historic clash between the Springboks and All Blacks at Soccer City on 21 August.
Pienaar made an impact in the win over Free State when he slotted in at flyhalf. The next few weeks may therefore have been an opportunity to make his mark in the position.
To make matters worse, Steve Meyer is struggling with a hamstring injury and the chances are slim that he will be able to play against the Lions.
Fullback Louis Ludik is struggling with a knee injury, but trained with the team on Monday. Van der Linde believes that Ludik will be ready to take on the Lions. It will be the first time since his move to the Sharks that Ludik plays against his former province.
Monty Dumond is likely to wear the No 10 jumper if both Pienaar and Meyer are ruled out.
Another option might be to move Patrick Lambie from centre to flyhalf, but the coaches are unlikely to want to break up the successful centre pairing of Lambie and Stefan Terblanche.
Meanwhile, New Zealand coaches John Plumtree (Sharks) and John Mitchell (Lions) will also be battling it out for the Hawera Trophy. This is a competion between the two coaches who both grew up in the town of Hawera in Taranaki.
Plumtree currently holds the trophy after the Sharks won their Super14 match against Mitchell’s Force earlier this year.
