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Durban - Cell C Sharks director of rugby Jake White has named his team to play the Bulls in Saturday’s opening Super Rugby clash against the Bulls at Kings Park.
According to Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick, the team White has named includes 11 Springboks in the starting line-up with a further three on the bench as he has been able to name pretty much a full-strength side.
Wing Odwa Ndungane admitted that they know what is coming from the Bulls who can be relied on to play a similar style of rugby the Sharks have grown accustomed to.
“We know what to expect,” said Ndungane. "They always bring physicality and the back three can expect a lot of high balls to field. We have to be able to deal with their strengths, we’ve had a good week of preparation and so hopefully it all comes together on Saturday. On paper, we have one of the strongest teams, but we cannot just relax and expect to arrive and win the games. We have to work really hard and front up on game-day.”
White admitted that a big crowd will certainly spur the players onto a performance worthy of the team’s name.
“The first couple of games here, there’s a buzz in Durban, people want to come and watch games here, maybe to have the home games early on and get the whole crowd behind us is going to be a bonus. Had we gone away at the start and lost that opportunity for our home fans to come and watch this new team, perhaps they wouldn’t have had the same reward. For us, with the new set up, maybe playing the first few games at home and having the fans behind us could be a massive advantage.”
The match kicks off at 19:10 on Saturday.
Teams:
Sharks:
15. SP Marais, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Paul Jordaan, 12. Frans Steyn, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Patrick Lambie, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Willem Alberts, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4. Anton Bresler, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis (captain), 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes:16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Dale Chadwick, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Stephan Lewies, 20. Jean Deysel, 21. Charl McLeod, 22. Heimar Williams, 23. S'bura Sithole
Bulls:
15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 J J Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Flip vd Merwe, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Victor Matfield, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Handré Pollard, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Marcel vd Merwe
According to Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick, the team White has named includes 11 Springboks in the starting line-up with a further three on the bench as he has been able to name pretty much a full-strength side.
Wing Odwa Ndungane admitted that they know what is coming from the Bulls who can be relied on to play a similar style of rugby the Sharks have grown accustomed to.
“We know what to expect,” said Ndungane. "They always bring physicality and the back three can expect a lot of high balls to field. We have to be able to deal with their strengths, we’ve had a good week of preparation and so hopefully it all comes together on Saturday. On paper, we have one of the strongest teams, but we cannot just relax and expect to arrive and win the games. We have to work really hard and front up on game-day.”
White admitted that a big crowd will certainly spur the players onto a performance worthy of the team’s name.
“The first couple of games here, there’s a buzz in Durban, people want to come and watch games here, maybe to have the home games early on and get the whole crowd behind us is going to be a bonus. Had we gone away at the start and lost that opportunity for our home fans to come and watch this new team, perhaps they wouldn’t have had the same reward. For us, with the new set up, maybe playing the first few games at home and having the fans behind us could be a massive advantage.”
The match kicks off at 19:10 on Saturday.
Teams:
Sharks:
15. SP Marais, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Paul Jordaan, 12. Frans Steyn, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Patrick Lambie, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Willem Alberts, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4. Anton Bresler, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis (captain), 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes:16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Dale Chadwick, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Stephan Lewies, 20. Jean Deysel, 21. Charl McLeod, 22. Heimar Williams, 23. S'bura Sithole
Bulls:
15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 J J Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Flip vd Merwe, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Victor Matfield, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Handré Pollard, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Marcel vd Merwe
