Sharks boss 'disappointed' in April

Cape Town - The Sharks landed in Cape Town on Friday for their Currie Cup clash against Western Province on Saturday without Garth April. 

The 26-year-old has been dropped from the side after breaching team protocol. 

The Sharks will not confirm exactly what April did, but coach Robert du Preez confirmed on Thursday that there is no guarantee that the fullback/flyhalf will be available for next weekend's fixture against the Free State Cheetahs in Durban.

"It will depend if he is prepared to come and speak to the team and to me. Then we'll take it from there," Du Preez said.

"It's very disappointing and it's unacceptable."

The coach agreed that he would have expected more from a player of April's experience.

"This is not the first time it's happened. It happened last year," Du Preez added.

"I had a meeting with the leadership group of players and we jointly decided that he won't partake in this weekend's game."

Second on the log and a point ahead of Province in third, the Sharks have won their last four fixtures in the tournament and are looking more and more like title contenders. 

Province, though, are also experiencing somewhat of a resurgence having smashed the Golden Lions 39-3 last weekend. 

"Defensively, they've been outstanding and we know they have the x-factor players on attack," said Du Preez.

"We'll have to bring our A-game, but I know the boys will be up for it."

Teams:

Western Province

15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Ruhan Nel, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg

Substitutes: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Michael Kumbirai, 18 Eddie Zandberg, 19 Steph de Wit, 20 Justin Phillips, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Dan Kriel

Sharks

15 Inny Radebe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 S'bu Nkosi, 10 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha (captain), 4 Jean Droste, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Juan Schoeman

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Wian Vosloo, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Rhyno Smith, 22 Odwa Ndungane