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DURBAN - The Sharks will be looking to brush off the shock retirement of flyhalf Steve Meyer by producing a performance to be proud of against the Chiefs in their opening Super 14 clash.
Meyer announced his immediate retirement from rugby for personal reasons on Thursday, but the Sharks can’t afford to let their concentration slip away at this late stage before the match.
All eyes need to remain firmly fixed on the challenge that last year's finalists, the Chiefs pose, which will be substantial. Sharks captain John Smit said they would certainly need to be on top of their game if they hoped to emerge victorious.
"The Chiefs are finalists from last year and they have some unbelievable game-breakers. They’ll come here to play and we’ll need to be clever in our approach to the game tactically. We’ve done our homework and now it’s just about seeing if we can execute that."
Despite the loss of Meyer, coach John Plumtree said he was still convinced this was a squad capable of doing the business this season.
"We couldn’t really rotate that much last year because we didn’t have the depth but this year we have that, so if there is any poor performances we can change players and that can create hunger and competition within the team and hopefully that can see us through."
The Sharks boast an impressive forward pack, with plenty of depth, but the backline will really have their work cut out for them on Saturday night. The Chiefs team is filled with numerous attacking threats and will be determined to repay the favour of last year, when the Sharks beat them at home.
The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 John Smit (captain), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Adrian Jacobs. Chiefs: 15 Mike Delany, 14 Dwayne Sweeney, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Kevin O’Neill, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Nathan White, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Sona Taumalolo. Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Afeaki, 18 James McGougan, 19 Culum Retallick, 20 Jarrad Hoeata, 21 Junior Poluleuligaga, 22 Tim Nanai-Williams.
