Sean Everitt (may he finally accept my Facebook friend request!) and his Sharks XV team take on Free State in the Vodacom Cup this evening. For the second week running, the Sharks XV match is going to be televised, with the game live on SuperSport 1 at 7pm.
Both sides lost narrowly last week and are now a few points off WP and the Kings, who top the South section log.
The Sharks XV have lost Nick Schonert to the Super Rugby side, while Franna Kleinhans – who was superb against Province – has copped a 3-week ban for a touch of mountaineering in that game. They will be replaced by Allan Dell and Chris Cloete respectively in the starting lineup, while Bry Stander drops to the bench to make way for the return of the little-known Jean Deysel. Maks van Dyk comes into the squad to provide cover at tighthead.
A rotational change in the front row sees Monde Hadebe benched for Kyle Cooper, while the loss of Paul Jordaan and Marius Joubert to the tour party means a start for Heimar Williams at 12, with Wandi Mjekevu moving from wing to outside centre. Rosco Speckman comes back on the left wing, while Piet Lindeque comes into the squad to take Williams’ bench spot.
Toyota Free State XV
15 Philip Burger
14 Marco Mason
13 Barry Geel
12 Stephan van der Merwe
11 Kholo Ramashala
10 Adriaan Smit
9 Andre van der Walt
8 Dries van Schalkwyk
7 Francois Uys
6 Oscar Limani
5 Waltie Vermeulen
4 Ockie van Zyl ( C )
3 Marcel van der Merwe
2 Elandre Huggett
1 Johannes Potgieter
16 Michael van Vuuren
17 Charles Marais
18 John-Charls Astle
19 Armand Koster
20 Kevin Luiters
21 Pieter-Steyn De Wet
22 Lee-Roy Bitterhout
The Sharks XV
15. Gouws Prinsloo
14. S’bura Sithole
13. Wandile Mjekevu
12. Heimar Williams
11. Rosko Specman
10. Fred Zeilinga
9. Cobus Reinach
8. Lubabalo Mtembu
7. Jean Deysel (Capt)
6. Chris Cloete
5. Pieter-Steph du Toit
4. Peet Marais
3. Allan Dell
2. Kyle Cooper
1. Danie Mienie
Replacements
16. Monde Hadebe
17. Nicolaas van Dyk
18. Braam Steyn
19. Brynard Stander
20. Conrad Hoffmann
21. Piet Lindeque
22. Jors Dannhauser
Looking forward to the game. You gonna be able to watch it Rob?
@Ben (Comment 1) : nope
hiyas bro @robdylan (Comment 2) :
@robdylan (Comment 2) : Sucks to be you. Will do the score updates.
if you have dstv and dont use the online thing ben let rob log onto supersport as though he is you and he will need your dstv no then he can watch it online
Kickoff is at 19:10
Game kicks off.
Okay wtf? Both teams playing in white jerseys!
Gouws prinsloo nails a pen from about 42 meters.
Free state 0 – 3 Sharks XV
4 mins
Great try from Sithole! Runs around 2 players and over Phillip Burger!
Converted
Free state 0 ? 10 Sharks XV
8 mins
@Ben (Comment 10) :
Try Free State. Francois Uys
Francois dots down for Cheetahs and Smit converts, 7 – 10 for the Sharks
Change of jerseys for the Cheetahs!
Converted. And finally Free State puts on Orange jerseys.
Free State 7 – 10 Sharks
16 mins
PK against Cloete
10 – 10
My internet is extremely slow!!
Free State 10 – 10 Sharks
19 mins
Beautiful kick from Fred, lineout on Cheetahs tryline
Sharks applying good pressure but often spill the ball
Penalty for Sharks, Gouws converts! 13 – 10!
Gouws slots a pen.
Free State 10 – 13 Sharks
23 mins
Gouws with a HUGE clearance kick!
Cloete gives away another penalty
Kholo Ramashala,playing against former teammate Sbura Sithole,mean fullback back in his Queen’s days,he had an electric step,Tshotsho Mbovane type of player
Attacking lineout for Cheetahs
Cloete redeems himself with a steal. Gouws eventually scores off pass from PSdT
Great team try. Gouws dots down.
Converted.
Free State 10 – 20 Sharks
27 mins
20 – 10
Marcel van der Merwe looking dangerous
Attacking scrum for FS
Free State try. Ramashala
Converted.
Free State 17 – 20 Sharks
31 mins
Ramashala punches through for a try off a set move from FS scrum. 20 – 17
Sharks full of running but very lazy on defence!
Heimar finds a half-gap in Cheetahs 22 and offloads to Reinach who spills.
Sharks attacking!
Mtembu is so awesome with ball in hand. Same goes for Sithole and Cooper. Cooper has a beautiful pass for a 2.
Wow, Prinsloo with an awesome tactical kick. Rolls out 1m before FS touchline.
FS win lineout, Sharks give away penalty
Marais warned for infringements on deck
Last scrum of the half
Try Cloete on the hooter!
Cloete try! Conversion missed
Half Time
Free State XV 17 – 25 Sharks XV
Prinsloo, Dell, du Toit and Fred involved in build-up. 17 – 25 Sharks
sharkies have been brilliant
hard to single out anyone that has not played well??
had to laugh when sbura scored his try, philip burger tried to tackle him from the front and landed on his ass
cloete and marais must just watch the no of penalties they are giving away
@sharks_lover (Comment 46) : Can’t agree, they’ve been great on attack but relax on defence each time they score. Also constantly spill the ball with tryline insight. Setpieces are pretty even.
@sharks_lover (Comment 46) : Is he coming back from injury?
This is Benooooooooniiiiiii! Love that ad!
2nd half under way!
Goues slots a pen.
Free State 17 – 28 Sharks
44 mins
PK for Sharks. 28 – 17 Sharks
Gouws slots a pen.
Free State 17 – 28 Sharks
44 mins
Sharks get scrum on halfway.
Gouws launches long touch finder and succeeds again.
FS run it from their 22 and get penalty due to Cloete knockdown.
Cloete down. Hamstring?
Stander on for Cloete
Prinsloo just superb
Intercept try!
Wandile made the intercept look effortless!
Mjekevu intercept try. Converted.
Free State 17 – 35 Sharks
51 mins
Hoffman on
35 – 17
Scrum time. FS put in.
@vanmartin (Comment 59) : bad injury?
FS try. Seeing a pattern here?
How’s deysel doing guys
@slammerboy (Comment 66) : Looks like a knee but I think the replacement may be precaution. He’s on the sideline but doesn’t look in too much pain.
35 – 24 Sharks
FS on the attack again and van der Merwe scores. Sharks tackling is rubbish.
@juba_fan (Comment 68) : Quiet game so far. Seems a marked man.
FS back in it!
Free State 31 – 35 Sharks
58 mins
Smit converts. 35 – 31 Sharks
Number of replacements. Hoffman and Hadebe on.
@vanmartin (Comment 64) : Hun, don’t give me a heart attack! Always put the home team scor first!
Hoffman needs to work on his service.
@Ice (Comment 76) : Trying to keep up with comments.I’ll always name the team in the lead in my scores.
Lineout FS.
on paper our team should be walking this game. looks like we need to work on our defence which is very leaky. Very important we win this game
Penalty FS. Sharks infringe during rolling maul.
Attacking lineout FS
FS score again in the corner.
@vanmartin (Comment 75) : But thanks for the updates – girls hijacked the TV for tonight…guess what?? NO Hannah Montana and Ceebeebees tomorrow morning! Heheheheh!
Second try for Bitterhout
Pathetic defence on display now from the Sharks XV!
Free State 38 – 35 Sharks
66 mins
38 – 35 FS
Sharks close to FS 22. On the attack.
Sharks go to pick and drive.
Sharks get penalty.
38 – 38
FS immedialty on the attack again.
Sharks get penalty. FS went off their feet.
Scores level.
Free State 38 – 38 Sharks
70 mins
Sharks win lineout and go on the attack. Sithole almost scores when breaking a tackle. Deysel scores off Hoffman’s gap.
Deysel Try!
43 – 38 Sharks
Free State 38 – 45 Sharks
74 mins
Piet and Danhauser on. Lovely break from Mtembu!
Scrum in FS 22. FS put in.
MONSTER scrum from Sharks wins us the penalty!
Gouws nails a penalty.
Free State 38 – 48 Sharks
76 mins
48 – 38 for Sharks!
Steyn on for Deysel.
Sharks suddenly remember how to tackle!
Sharks win lineout in FS half and win penalty few phases later.
Anbother Goosen penalty
Free State 38 – 51 Sharks
79 mins
Gouws slots it. 51 – 38 for Sharks!
Last scrum on halfway line. Sharks put in.
@Ben (Comment 107) : awsomestes!!
And the fat lady sings. Sharks win!
@Ben (Comment 107) : Goosen?
FULL TIME
Free State XV 38 – 51 Sharks XV
@Ben (Comment 107) :hehehe Goosen?
Well done you Sharks!!!
@vanmartin (Comment 112) : Oops!
Standouts are Gouws for the backs and Mtembu for the forwards. Heimar and Wandile were pretty decent but allowed too many gaps. Sithole was awesome each time he got the ball but needs to get more involved. Stander and Cloete made a few steals but Cloete gave away too many penalties. Deysel had a good run. Solid but not spectacular.
@vanmartin (Comment 117) : Thanks Man!
BTW how long still??
Hoffman behind Reinach in scrumhalf pecking order in my opinion.
@Ice (Comment 118) : Any day now I suspect. We’re close to 38 weeks now and the mini-Sharkette has turned correctly and dropped noticeably. Doctor and midwife very happy with her position. The wife is in a lot of discomfort but taking it like a champ.
E Cape in the house!
Beeeg games from Mthembu, Sithole and Mjekevu – all 3 have loads of pace and power.
Sithole just needs to up his workrate and learn to get himself into the right places, and he will probably be a Bok. They should pair him with Odwa for a while so he can learn this from a wing who really does it well.
Zeilinga, Speckman, Williams and Cloete are good players, but I think they are not quite as exciting – I’d like to see a bit more penetration at 9-12, to complement what we have amongst others in the backline (and even the forwards!).
@vanmartin (Comment 120) : Great! They say miracles do not happen any more, but every woman being pregnant is part of a miracle! Good luck Boet (and to the Champ!)
Its a shame we couldn’t close the game out earlier. Would have liked to see a bit of Lindeque.
@Big Fish (Comment 121) : @Ben (Comment 123) : Agreed!
@Ice (Comment 122) : No argument there Ice! We went for a 4D scan a few weeks ago and it was an amazing experience. All choked up just thinking about it again!
@vanmartin (Comment 125) : You new-age metro men! LOL
Mtembu was very good tonight. Sbura also had a good game. Gouws Prinsloo is simply superb
Thanks for the updates and good win for Sharks!
@Ice (Comment 126) : It’s your fault!
Anyone friends with Hoffman? Please let him that he has a very good pass but needs to part ways with his high school technique of putting one foot in the ruck and making sure that the other foot faces where he’s going to pass. It’s too time consuming. He should look at what Mcleod offers us. Simple but highly effective in the context of our game plan. Quick ball which enables us to exploit our opponents defenses before they have time to re-organise.
@Ben (Comment 113) : Whatever you score we’ll score more
Well done Sharkies.