The Sharks XV face the Pampas XV this weekend in Cape Town, fighting for a chance to finish second on the log and secure a home play-off game, having been boosted by returning senior players such as Odwa Ndungane, Marius Joubert, Jean Deysel and Beast Mtawarira.
We also see the return of Paul Jordaan and Piet-Steph du Toit from Baby Bok duty, while the most exciting bench player has to be the return of Ryan Kankowski following his injury early in the season.
The halfback combination of Reinach and Zeilinga will continue together, while a brand new centre combo of Joubert and Jordaan will see the old and the new of Sharks rugby taking on the Pampas in midfield.
Jean Deysel will enjoy some much needed game time, as will Beast Mtawarira, after looking rather tired after his 55 minute run against the EP Kings last weekend. Should these players and Kankowski manage through the game, we are sure to see signs of them come the Sharks Super Rugby match against the Highlanders next weekend.
The Sharks XV:
15. Gouws Prinsloo
14. Odwa Ndungane
13. Paul Jordaan
12. Marius Joubert
11. S’bura Sithole
10. Fred Zeilinga
9. Cobus Reinach
8. Lubabalo Mtembu
7. Jean Deysel
6. Francois Kleinhans
5. Pieter-Steph du Toit
4. Jandre Marais (Captain)
3. Nick Schonert
2. Kyle Cooper
1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements
16. Monde Hadebe
17. Danie Mienie
18. Peet Marais
19. Brynard Stander
20. Ryan Kankowski
21. Hanco Venter
22. Heimar Williams
Not so sure I agree with this, to be honest..
Loading the team up for the crunch match, says a lot about the players that are replaced..
I can understand that players need game time, those coming back from injury, but this is a bit extreme..
OMS; probably strongest Vodacom Cup team i have ever seen…5 boks and 2 former Blitzbokke…Chuffed it’s being televised!!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 1) : Deysel still isn’t match fit, Joubert has hardly played Ndungane needs match fitness, etc. I don’t see anything wrong with this selection, gives the side a better balance of youth and experience and that will help them Win this weekend.
@JJR (Comment 3) :
Just so that they can go lose it in playoffs due to having to make new combinations again.. Silly really..
If the team that has been playing all season cannot make the playoffs, they don’t deserve to be there based on one match where all the seniors come help them..
Boys are gonna heat up Stellies this weekend!! Can’t wait to have Shark back up in town! Stoked:)
After Ndungane and Marius Joubert, we don’t need any more experience in the team
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 4) : Rather be in the knockouts than not; in the knockouts anyone can Win.
BTW, where is Mjekevu? Would be better to have him on the bench in place of Williams.
@JJR (Comment 7) :
I’d rather not be in the playoffs if it is done in a manner that is unsettling to a team..
Should we make the playoffs, and there is a big chance we won’t, I can’t see us getting anywhere..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 8) : 3 teams from each section go through to quarters…we just need to Win…And we will with that team, i have no doubt, Kings beat Pampas in Stellenbosch and our young Sharks XV last week that was missing many players thanks to SA U/20 beat the Kings in Durban.
We will be fine in knockouts if we can make use of our SA U/20 players. Messing up the team…well they’ve had like 5 million different captains, the team changes like every week, so i think they used to the changes, the group of players that have played for Sharks XV for most of the time will be available for Knockouts, we will be fine.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 8) : we need to make sure of the win in order to qualify for a home quarter-final game. simple as that. the regular team should be good enough to win that one playing at home. can’t look any further than that as we don’t know yet what the other results will be like.
@Greg (Comment 10) : Well said, i agree.
@Greg (Comment 10) :
@JJR (Comment 11) :
I’m sorry, I just cannot agree with the manner in which it is done..
How motivated are the players, who are now dropped for this match, going to be when they get back in the team?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 12) : without wanting to debate a question that is essentially of a psychological nature, I reckon that guys like Mjekevu and Specman will be more than keen to make their mark playing for a Sharks representative team in a playoff game
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 1) : I don’t know Rich, it’s just Marius Joubert that I would not have played. Odwa needs game time, he will replace Ludik for the Sharks, so does Deysel who has only just come back from an injury, and Beast also needs to prove that he’s fit. Kanko’s on the bench and needs game time and also a good showing to get a spot at the Sharks.
REally it’s just joubert that gives me a bit of a pain…
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 12) : It’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Five players for the Sharks are coming back from injuries, and they need game time if they’re going to be effective in their next game for the Sharks, it doesn’t even have anything to do with the players that has been left out. The fact is this team and these games will always be used to give some match fitness to the Super Rugby players.
All the injured players need to get match fit and unfortunately this is how it works,playing a high tempo game is what these players need,glad the Centre combination is there more solid than the previous and I’ve seen Joubert and Zeilinga do some damage,they gel nicely ,Mtembu has had a good few games and has shaped well,would love to see Reinach give a bit more ball to the backs so the game can flow and we see the speedsters get more ball,Prinsloo needs to pick up his overall game but his place kicking is good. A very nice team should be a good game.
@Greg (Comment 13) : Perfectly said
I agree, again.
Sorry for hi-jacking the article, breaking news: my source tells me that Adriaan Strauss might captain the Boks against England with Chilli on the bench. Looks like old Bissie is out. Can’t blame Meyer, Strauss is kicking butt.
@Letgo Comment 15. Spot on. It’s all about the S15 team. Any Sharks Team endeavors to be as competitive as possible and tries to win every game, BUT, always within the parameters that the Sharks senior team’s interests come first. Nobody has been “dropped” from the Sharks XV and all regular players know that if the team qualifies, they will be in contention for SEMI-F selection. Remember, any player who has been in the Sharks S15 22 for any match more than 3 times cannot play Semi’s onwards in Vodacom.
@JJR Comment 9. 4 teams from each section qualify for the quarter finals. Positions 1 &2 get home quarters.
@JJR (Comment 7) : They need Heimar on the bench to cover inside centre for Mr Marius ‘Unreliable’ Joubert
@Butchie34 (Comment 20) : give credit where it’s due,Marius had a bad start to the season but has gotten better as the games went on,on defense he is better than Hiemar as Hiemar has missed alot of vital tackles that cost his team, both players have there moments and let’s see what happens this weekend
@spyderco (Comment 21) : My perception is also probably skewed because I have never liked Marius and his signing was like a knife in the gut for me.
Apologies if it has already been asked.
Is this game on the telly?
@dawj (Comment 23) : I believe so, yes
I believe the game is at 14-40 on supersport channel 201
@Butchie34 (Comment 22) : no problem let’s hope all goes well.
@spyderco (Comment 21) : got to say I love your sensible commentary here. Great to have you. And still can’t get over the awesome squirrel
@robdylan (Comment 27) : Thanx great bunch of people here nice to be a part of it.
@spyderco (Comment 28) : @robdylan (Comment 27) : Get a room, would you two?
@Ben (Comment 29) : ha ha.
This game is about to start and I forgot to do a match thread… Let’s use this one.
Gonna be a cracker of a game great weather as well,go sharks xv, good to see kanko starting
@robdylan (Comment 30) : Was my plan yes.
Late change. Hoff starts, tera benched
Our single and majour problem is HANDLING nothing else this seperates the teams
Game under way.
Game started a bit scrappy for the sharks xv, nice line running by Fred and Marius and Paul finishing it off, starting to look better
Pampas 0 – 12 Sharks
21 mins
Pampas 0 – 19 Sharks
35 mins
Half Time
Pampas XV 3 – 19 Sharks XV
Is this Pampas’ home venue?
OK, there have been lots of calls for Paul Jordaan to play, let us know how he gets on.
Sharks xv starting to get things going, glad the fitness of the more senior players from super 15 is holding up, Beast having a much better game than last week, Kanko fitness looking good, would like to see more running rugby in 2nd half from the backs.Zeilinga distribution looking good and Deysel playing his best
6 handling errors both Sharks with little ball We can’t drop them!!
Pampas 6 – 22 Sharks
52 mins
Well worked team try!!
Great play jordaan ,go sharks xv
Pampas over for a try now. Poor defence from Sithole.
Pampas 11 – 27 Sharks
60 mins
Pampas intercept try.
Pampas 18 – 27 Sharks
73 mins
Pampas kick a penalty.
Pampas 21 – 27 Sharks
76 mins
Gouws kicks a penalty.
Pampas 21 – 30 Sharks
79 mins
Seems like anoooooooother “edge of the seat” win from a comfortable position for a Sharks team.
Jeepers the Sharks only make it hard for their fans, don’t they?
FULL TIME
Pampas XV 24 – 30 Sharks XV
Wow a game of two halves, sharks need to pick up there game, a few silly mistakes and decision making errors but we will take the win. Well done pampas xv a great comeback
Same mistakes from juniors to senior – we can’t hold onto the ball!!! Flyhalf is our weekest link here
Both Zeilinga and Sitole had a good first half and a off second half Sitole missing tackles and Zeilinga an intercept, Zeilinga tackled good throughout the game above his weight,Sitole some good runs.The sharks are going into a tough game next week with alot of there super stars going up to super rugby
Kleinhans Cooper and Deysel had a great game, a lot of weekly changes to the team really disrupts the momentum of the team but they doing well .
Well done Sharkies.