Fiery hooker Bismarck du Plessis has been named to start for the Sharks against the Blues on Saturday.
du Plessis is one of three changes to the pack that downed the Bulls at Loftus last weekend. Jannie du Plessis retain his spot at loosehead prop, with BJ Botha continuing on the right hand side. Veteran second-rower Albert van den Berg comes in at 4 in the place of the retiring Johan Ackermann. There is a welcome return to the 22 for Steven Sykes, who takes van den Berg’s spot on the substitutes bench.
AJ Venter has dropped out due to injury, meaning a new-look loose trio with Keegan Daniel (man of the match against the Bulls) retaining his spot at 6, while Jacques Botes is handed the number 7 jersey. Together with Ryan Kankowski at 8, it’s a combination that lacks bulk, but is certainly not short of pace and skill.
Ruan Pienaar is still out with a collarbone injury, meaning that Kockott and Michalak will again start at halfback. The centers are unchanged and there is a single change in the back three, with Stefan Terblanche coming in at right wing in place of Odwa Ndungane.
Nudungane drops to the bench, to partner Adi Jacobs and Super 14 newcomer Charl McLeod as the backline reserves. Jean Deysel, Beast Mtawarira and Craig Burden join Sykes as the forward replacements.
The starting pack weighs an impressive 863kg, an average of 107kg per man. Not too bad, considering that both Botes and Daniel are well below the 100kg mark. The average height is 1.90m, just for those who are interested in such silly stats! Among the backs, the average figures are 95kg and 1.86m respectively.
Here is the team:
Starting XV: 15. Francois Steyn, 14. Stefan Terblanche, 13. Waylon Murray, 12. Bradley Barritt, 11. JP Pietersen, 10. Frederic Michalak, 9. Rory Kockott, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Jacques Botes, 6. Keegan Daniel, 5. Johann Muller ( Capt ), 4. Albert van den Berg, 3. BJ Botha, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Jannie du Plessis.
Replacements: 16. Craig Burden, 17. Tendai Mtawarira, 18. Steven Sykes, 19. Jean Deysel, 20. Charl Mcleod, 21. Adrian Jacobs, 22. Odwa Ndungane.
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Go SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!
ok… either that loose trio is going to seriously rock, or it will prove our undoing.
BIG BALLS, Dick… well done.
Think its the best team he could have pick apart from AJ. I’ll holding all my tumbs for the Sharks, please make SA proud!
Hope we’ll have a GOOD SA weekend all over the park. 😎
Skipper is back on the Vodacom Cup bench where he belongs
Damn I thought my friend of a friend had convinced Dick on 12….
No AJ :(…..Albert doesn’t add any grunt in the tight 5 and then a light weight loose trio?????
sharks have the back row spot on vs the blues you need pace pace and more pace, they not as light weight as you think they are when hits need to be made either but they are hot on attack for sure and the only way to beat the Blues is to score more than them
back line defence better be top class on the day
Can I get a witness!
Great stuff – welcome back Bismark – sink them boy!
“Among the backs, the average figures are 85kg and 1.86m respectively.”
Bullshit!
Frans, Stefan, Waylon, JP, Brad are all around 100kg and about 1.9m, while only the halfbacks are under 90kg – in fact Rory is just over that.
GAP
And the Cheetahs showed us that you CAN score tries against these guys so the Sharks can do it.
Yeah, the loosies will either make the win or get stamped out of the game.
Daniel and Kanko are a lot more powerful than they look.
Remind me of myself.
Without AJ there and with Albert there I would have gone with Deysel to start at 7 and brought Botes or Daniel on in the second half.
Remind me of myself.
06.03.08 16:06:07 – Big Fish
😯
🙄
Fish – I used the official stats to work that out. How sure are you that you want to take me on?
sharks can because their defence is better than the cheetahs and thats where the OFS failed last week, they couldve won that game but they kept on trying to kopper stamp and then the ball came popping out in the tackle, sharks shoudl maybe try to offload before the kopstamp point, leave that for the bulls
Nee DP, you need as much 6e as possible on the pitch. The Cheetahs had two heals against the head against them and score one try from that. The Sharks just have to dominate up front and let the loosie cut loose. Sure they can do it with this team.
Blues pack 904kg vs Sharks pack 860kg
And all the talk about beating them upfront….
hmmm… can we rather compare tight five weights? 😉
6, 7 and 8 dont push anyway so tight 5 it should be
i think they can go for lineout steals, the blues scrum is very solid and their no 8 Williams looks like his from the stone age
ok – The Sharks site lists Kockott as weighing 92kg, while the stats I used from SA Rugby say 85. I am more tempted to believe my own stats, but I will double-check this with Rory tomorrow
Sorry it just doesn’t sense to me that Muller is talking about talking them on upfront and that you can’t run the ball in the Durban humidity at this time of the year and then you pick a lightweight pack that is made for free flowing league rugby?
Anytime Roberto –
FS – 100
ST – 95
JPP – 95
BB – 95
WM – 103
FM – 84
RK – 92
TOTAL – 664
AVG – 94.8
Shit – sorry Fish. Typo in my article… you are 100% right.
My calculation for the backs came up at 94.7kg!
Hey Fish
You don’t mention that Rob got the heights spot on though. 😉
The ones I used say
FS – 100
ST – 96
JPP – 98
BB – 95
WM – 105
FM – 84
RK – 85
TOTAL – 663
AVG – 94.714
Heights
Steyn 1.91
Terblanche1.87
Murray 1.9
Barrit 1.86
JPP 1.9
Michalak 1.82
Kockott 1.8
Avg – 1.865
Its ok Roberto – we make allowances for the fact that you went to Affies.
At least you don’t move your lips too much when reading. 😈
Hey Fish
You don’t mention that Rob got the heights spot on though. 😉
06.03.08 16:23:33 – KSA Shark © Edit
Obviously not old-timer – I didnt dispute the veracity of the figure quoted for average height.
Its ok – I know you grew up in Kroonstad. 😎
jy soek vir my… 😉
BF
Frans, Stefan, Waylon, JP, Brad are all around 100kg and about 1.9m, while only the halfbacks are under 90kg – in fact Rory is just over that
It certainly appeared that way. 😉
fight!! fight!!!
According to my stats, none of the backs is over 1.9m, while a fair few of them are well under.
hi folks!
you gotta love it that Bismark’s back, and that superfast loose trio!
this looks like a team that could upset the Blues rollercoaster.
Big Fish, your backline weights seem about right to me, those are big boys
06.03.08 16:29:10 – robdylan
😆
06.03.08 16:30:40 – KSA Shark ©
Eish, these old folk.
Anybody here speak Dutchman? 😛
“Frans, Stefan, Waylon, JP, Brad are all around 100kg and about 1.9m,”
Notice the strategic placing of the comma? I was referring to only those guys, the shortest of which are Brad (1.86) and Stefan (1.87).
Meet me behind the bicycle shed, and I hope you arent one of those who get their wives to fight for them?
spyker.
The team has the LOOKS but it needs to start producing what is expected now.
We got away with a lucky win last week because of JP Nel’s idiotic bahaviour. We can’t afford to play like that this week.
Sharks need to up their game and play to the ability of their names.
BF
she doesn’t fight for me but she does give the odd, “Moer hom!!!” from the sidelines. 😉
this is AWESOME!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvVg7nRdmEE
06.03.08 16:37:52 – KSA Shark ©
That I can definitely believe – she seems to be a very spirited lady.
You must teach me how you tricked someone of her calibre into falling for you. 😉
I picked her when she was young and naive and by the time she knew any better we were already married. 😉
KSA,
you’re right of course, they’ll need to play up to their potential
Fish, if only certain other, erm, “anatomical features” were as large as your mouth, you’d have no trouble picking up chicks, bro 😉
i can’t believe dick put brad in at 12! what was he thinking! this is not good! this is a team of centres! 😆
damn ksa and dive piss said brad wasn’t good enough to play. so who does dick think he is putting him into the team.
12 Dick is new at coaching, he still makes the odd mistake. 🙄
TT
In the second half when Odwa moves to wing, Stefan to 15 and Steyn to 12, Dick will say to himself 😯 the solution has been staring me in the eyes for weeks!!!!!!!! If only I had listened to KSA and DP……. I can’t believe Steyn is this good.
06.03.08 16:42:26 – KSA Shark ©
Duly noted.
06.03.08 16:45:55 – robdylan
Rob, the only man that is allowed to talk about “The Destroyer” is me.
You have been warned… 👿
apparently Dicks (muir etc) have a mind of their own 😎
yeah like that will happen. but interesting to see he has loaded his team with kickers. makes you wonder what the game plan is.
that’s a great video clip RD, i especially liked the ending where it says ‘Sharks dont like Loftus, they Love it’
all i know is if this side gels on saterday , beware blues ur in deep shit lol
i see deon carstens playing again too and that bodes well for the tour down under
ty rob for the assistance 😉
and imma be at the game woooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
go sharks kick sheep shagger butts
sharks tank just volenteered a match report.
thanks shark tank/mj i am looking forward to it. take some pics of the flasher girls to brighten up this site.
sorry shark tank i see i cannot read. it is sharks lover volunteering.
yeah baby… I have a good feeling. That video has just put me in the mood for a shark attack!
and sharks lover has a pic of the flasher girls so obviously has a special pass.
just hope the stadium can be more full this time round
i dont believe the fans out there are being as loyal as they should and also in the grounds
they should be more vocal
durban must be black and white on saterday
will take nice pics of game and our sharks girls
hope rob puts them all up lol
yeah sl, what amazes me is that it is season ticket holders not pitching up. this year was a bumper year for season tickets yet you wouldn’t think so looking at the stadium. i wonder if the mess up with parking is a cause?
how can there be more season ticket sales and yet the stadium is emptier? but it is season ticket holders as the the seats vacant are prime seats and these aren’t available to public when they want tickets.
bismarck is a huge boost, AJ would have made it closer, sharks backrow is way underdone, but they are all very fit, if its as humid as all hell the sharks can scrape it but without AJ or ackers the pack lacks that balance imo.
…and oh ja, i will really be hoping for a sharks win to try and salvage some SA pride.
thanks cab. Reckon the Lions will win?
no chance robbieD, but one can only live in hope.
yeah – afraid I have the Bulls by 9. Hope I’m wrong
Good evening guys.
I don’t see the Lions winning this one (unfortunately). Would love them to prove me wrong though.
oh i have the lions by 5. the bulls are a mess. they are doubting themselves. they have players wanting to jump ship, and the list goes on. lions don’t have much but they have stability. it really depends on benjamin. he alone has lost too many games for the lions due to shocking handling.
TT – you think so? The Lions are my 2nd team – I really would like to see them play like they did last year. They can do it. I hope you are right!
ness cheetahs are my second team, but i have had a soft spot for the lions. i was born in roodepoort and lived in randfontein so they were once my team. there administration just ruined them over time. they have a committed team and i have been impressed with the way they have playewd the expansive game even though they have some poor backs. it shows character, something the sharks are only showing flashes of. i have seen better moves from the lions than i have from the sharks, just benjamins hands and their defence has let them down.
if you had a team with the attack of the lions and the defence of the sharks you would have a new zealand team.
ok before i get the sharks fans calling me a traitor. i will explain myself. the sharks have an awesome team, but they don’t seem to have the confidence yet. it almost seems as though the forwards don’t trust the backs and are keeping the ball to themselves. the backline is thus only getting limited ball and when they get it they seem not to want it as if they don’t want to prove the forwards right. i just cannot understand why after practicing for three months in the humidity they are too scared to loosen up the ball because of humidity. i know it is bad but they should know and use the conditions in their favour. why aren’t they practicing with ky jelly on the ball? but i am not giving up hope. this team has everything needed to win this year, only thing missing is their confidence.
hey everyone…
i’m glad that bissie is back… it definitely improves your chances of beating the blues…
TT
the cheetahs?
dude, watching them play rugby is like watching paint dry. 😆
alrighty then…
ghost site… 😳
i didn’t say they played well, it is just good to see the future sharks in action.
😈 GO SHARKS!!!!!!!!! 😈 😈
lets muller them!!!!!!
Dick on Boots & All.
Very clear that if the Sharks don’t improve this weekend then it is not going to be an easy weekend
damn straight…
Good team…I hope Stefan will give us added experience on the wing. The bench looks good too (as we’ve come to expect).
Good luck boys! Let’s cut the stupid errors and we’ll be fine.
Go Brad!!!
Well if Brad has been reading this blog this week, I’m sure that certain of us have given him motivation to them wrong 😉