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Durban - The Cell C Sharks have picked Tim Swiel at fullback for their Currie Cup clash against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday, reports Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick.
The Sharks scored a narrow 19-16 victory over Free State in the first round match that took place in Week 3 at Kings Park, but know that the home side, perhaps under more pressure than them, will be gunning for the win with just as much focus and desire.
The Cheetahs are two log points below the fourth placed Sharks and have won twice in their five fixtures to date (the Sharks have three wins to their name). The Free Staters, coming off the back of a home loss to the Pumas on the weekend, know they have a tough second half of the competition ahead of them.
“It’s quite congested around the middle of the log, we’re in fourth place but Free State are just behind us,” explains coach Brand Macleod-Henderson.
“They have plenty of threats, they play with quite a lot of width to their game and Sarel Pretorius at scrumhalf is always a dangerous threat. They have quite a good lineout too, so we’ll have to perform well.”
The team selection shows a number of changes to the side picked last week. With Wiehan Hay out for three weeks with an AC joint injury, Marco Wentzel will partner Stephan Lewies in the second row. Dale Chadwick comes in for Thomas du Toit at loosehead prop is the only other change amongst the forwards, but it is in the backline where there have been some new selections.
Swiel, normally a flyhalf, will start at fullback while S'bura Sithole shifts back to outside centre where he is partnered with Under-21 centre Andre Esterhuizen who will make his Currie Cup debut. Paul Jordaan is rested this week after starting all five of the previous Currie Cup matches. The final change sees Lionel Cronje getting a start at flyhalf.
Assistant coach Paul Anthony warned of the dangers posed by the home team. “The Cheetahs at home are always going to be tough, they have their backs to the wall as well and know they need to win it at home. We aren’t going into the clash with any delusions or illusions either, it’s almost like a knockout game for both of us, we have to go in there to win and there’s no compromise.”
Kick-off for Saturday's clash at the Free State Stadium is scheduled for 15:00.
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs:
15 Rayno Benjamin, 14 Maputha Dolo, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 JP du Plessis, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Lappies Labuschagne, 7 Neil Claassen, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Henco Venter, 3 George Marich, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Substitutes: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Rudolph Botha, 18 Werner Lourens, 19 Vincent Jobo, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 22 AJ Coertzen
Sharks:
15. Tim Swiel, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. S'bura Sithole, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Tonderai Chavhanga, 10. Lionel Cronje, 9. Conrad Hoffmann, 8. Tera Mtembu (captain), 7. Etienne Oosthuizen, 6. Jacques Botes, 5. Stephan Lewies, 4. Marco Wentzel, 3. Lourens Adriaanse, 2. Kyle Cooper, 1. Dale Chadwick
Substitutes: 16. Monde Hadebe, 17. Thomas du Toit, 18. Johan Meyer, 19. Khaya Majola, 20. Cameron Wright, 21. Fred Zeilinga, 22. SP Marais
The Sharks scored a narrow 19-16 victory over Free State in the first round match that took place in Week 3 at Kings Park, but know that the home side, perhaps under more pressure than them, will be gunning for the win with just as much focus and desire.
The Cheetahs are two log points below the fourth placed Sharks and have won twice in their five fixtures to date (the Sharks have three wins to their name). The Free Staters, coming off the back of a home loss to the Pumas on the weekend, know they have a tough second half of the competition ahead of them.
“It’s quite congested around the middle of the log, we’re in fourth place but Free State are just behind us,” explains coach Brand Macleod-Henderson.
“They have plenty of threats, they play with quite a lot of width to their game and Sarel Pretorius at scrumhalf is always a dangerous threat. They have quite a good lineout too, so we’ll have to perform well.”
The team selection shows a number of changes to the side picked last week. With Wiehan Hay out for three weeks with an AC joint injury, Marco Wentzel will partner Stephan Lewies in the second row. Dale Chadwick comes in for Thomas du Toit at loosehead prop is the only other change amongst the forwards, but it is in the backline where there have been some new selections.
Swiel, normally a flyhalf, will start at fullback while S'bura Sithole shifts back to outside centre where he is partnered with Under-21 centre Andre Esterhuizen who will make his Currie Cup debut. Paul Jordaan is rested this week after starting all five of the previous Currie Cup matches. The final change sees Lionel Cronje getting a start at flyhalf.
Assistant coach Paul Anthony warned of the dangers posed by the home team. “The Cheetahs at home are always going to be tough, they have their backs to the wall as well and know they need to win it at home. We aren’t going into the clash with any delusions or illusions either, it’s almost like a knockout game for both of us, we have to go in there to win and there’s no compromise.”
Kick-off for Saturday's clash at the Free State Stadium is scheduled for 15:00.
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs:
15 Rayno Benjamin, 14 Maputha Dolo, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 JP du Plessis, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Lappies Labuschagne, 7 Neil Claassen, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Henco Venter, 3 George Marich, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Substitutes: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Rudolph Botha, 18 Werner Lourens, 19 Vincent Jobo, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 22 AJ Coertzen
Sharks:
15. Tim Swiel, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. S'bura Sithole, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Tonderai Chavhanga, 10. Lionel Cronje, 9. Conrad Hoffmann, 8. Tera Mtembu (captain), 7. Etienne Oosthuizen, 6. Jacques Botes, 5. Stephan Lewies, 4. Marco Wentzel, 3. Lourens Adriaanse, 2. Kyle Cooper, 1. Dale Chadwick
Substitutes: 16. Monde Hadebe, 17. Thomas du Toit, 18. Johan Meyer, 19. Khaya Majola, 20. Cameron Wright, 21. Fred Zeilinga, 22. SP Marais
