Steve Meyer returns to the scene of his last Currie Cup appearance for the Sharks, hoping to return with a far better result than the 1-point loss suffered by Dick Muir’s team when they visited Kimberley five years ago. The 26-year-old flyhalf has put the memories of that day behind him, as his career has eventually brought him back to Durban, via Perpignan in the south-west of France.
“We just need to go out there and give them a hell of a hiding,” reckons Meyer, when asked about the irony of his first Sharks start after returning to the side. It may not be quite that easy, though, as the Sharks have been dealt several hammer-blows that have all but decimated the pack that ruled supreme in the latter stages of the Super 14. Pat Cilliers and Wiehahn Herbst will start at prop, with former Griquas man Eugene van Staden poised for a maiden Sharks cap off the bench. Craig Burden starts at hooker in the absence of both Bismarck du Plessis (injured) and John Smit (with the Boks), with under 21 player Kyle Cooper his deputy. A third debutant, Anton Bresler, will wear the number 18 jersey, behind the established second-row pairing of Steven Sykes and Alistair Hargreaves.
Jean Deysel and Willem Alberts are both out injured, meaning that Mike Rhodes will add to his handful of Currie Cup caps as he starts at blindside flank. Keegan Daniel takes over at number 8, arguably his best position, with Jacques Botes continuing at openside. Skholiwe Ndlovu is a surprising pick on the bench ahead of former schoolmate Justin Downey.
The backline is far more similar to the unit that started the final Super 14 game, with Rory Kockott at scrumhalf and Riaan Swanepoel and Stefan Terblanche in the centres. The latter will captain the side. Lwazi Mvovo is at left wing, with Louis Ludik coming in for the injured Odwa Ndungane on the other side. Patrick Lambie, leading point-scorer at the recent IRB Junior World Championship, continues at fullback.
Squad regulars Charl McLeod, Monty Dumond and Andries Strauss complete the reserve contingent.
Sharks:
15 Lambie, 14 Ludik*, 13 Terblanche (captain), 12 Swanepoel, 11 Mvovo, 10 Meyer, 9 Kockott, 8 Daniel, 7 Rhodes, 6 Botes, 5 Hargreaves, 4 Sykes, 3 Herbst, 2 Burden, 1 Cilliers.
16 Cooper*, 17 van Staden*, 18 Bresler*, 19 Ndlovu, 20 McLeod, 21 Dumond, 22 Strauss
* denotes Sharks debut
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This is a sound Match day 22… I see the young guns are included after all the previous squad announcement scandal and speculation… I back The Sharks to take this game… I back The Sharks to take most games, guess thats why I am a fanatic… 😆
Exciting team! Cant wait.
i would like to have seen Dwayne Jenner on the bench. From the initial feedback, he seems like a Joos Joubert in the making!
@dawj (Comment 3) : I was hoping for better than Joos Joubert. Not that he was bad, but not a world beater either.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN !!!!
This seems to be an exciting team, youngsters, experience mixed in a great coctail! Go Sharks!!
Has anyone received real information re: Mapoe? What is the latest other than FSRU not willing to release him?
So what happens when Adi returns from injury at the end of the month?? Does Oupa retain his place at 13??
Will Adi move to 12 and ‘Vetgat’ Swannie moving to the bench??
I don’t know if there are any of our stronger rivals in the CC that will look at this team and think: “O, shit!” We need our injured players back ASAP.
@wpw (Comment 8) : Adi is a class act, but will have to prove himself again after such a long layoff… I reckon he’ll be benched and Strauss will be replaced… I rate Strauss as a defensive organiser, but Adi does offer more… When Adi is fully fit, that will be interesting indeed as to see what they do… Stef should not be skipper, hand the proverbial armband to Ali Hargreaves and drop Stef…
@wpw (Comment 8) : Fresh, coming from you, Mr Anorexia! 😈
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 10) : Adi can be skipper on his return… 😈
@Charlie (Comment 12) : I’ll take that with a pinch of salt (profile pic taken into consideration)… 😉
@Señora Hielo (Comment 11) :
I will have you know I joined our local gym last night!!
Give me 6 months and I’ll outsprint Swannie!! 😈
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 13) : 😆 😈
@rhineshark (Comment 9) : Deysel and Alberts will be sorely missed against the Bulls in the next match after Griquas… but I reckon any Sharks player who pulls on the jersey possesses a fair bit of mongrel… Game time makes heroes… Give these okes a chance – luckily it is early days in the comp and round 3 sees the two big loosies return…
@wpw (Comment 14) : Untill then, maybe you should refrain from weight name calling? Let’s see how this pans out…we can put up a pick in December, k? 😆
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 16) : Exactly why I’m worried, because our game plan in the S14 only started to work when we used Deysel and Alberts in an attacking role, which gave our very average backline some space.
Oh, well – time will tell 😉
@wpw (Comment 14) : Spoedvraat !!!
@rhineshark (Comment 18) : I hear you there…
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 13) : I am serious boet… 😉
@Charlie (Comment 21) : No comment… But in all seriousness it’ll be good to see Adi back in the Black & White…
@Charlie (Comment 19) : As jy rol kan jy nogals momentum opbou, hoor ek!! 😆
@Señora Hielo (Comment 17) :
jou slimjan!! 😉 👿
@Señora Hielo (Comment 23) : Dis presies Matt Dunning se strategie
@wpw (Comment 14) : you reckon you can get Swannie to stay in one place for 6 months?
isn’t meyer a bit grootbek for a guy who “retired” cos his chick said so?
I can’t wait to see this guy, i think monty dumond is better than him 😉 , will this game be televised?
@rhineshark (Comment 25) : Sheesh! He is a brulpadda! Wes is not THAT bad….yet! 😈
@robdylan (Comment 26) : Can you tell me if Lional Mapoe playing f or the Sharks or Cheetah 😕 doing FL and need to know
@robdylan (Comment 26) : hehehehehe
@chaz (Comment 29) : nobody knows yet, Chaz, but Mapoe is going to be injured for pretty much the first 7 games. Don’t pick him now.
@robdylan (Comment 31) : thanks
No follow up story about retirement?
To soon? 😈
@Worcestershire Sauce (Comment 33) : Wait till tomorrow
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 22) :
As expected we`re thin at the back and on the bench. But pretty much the best we could do under the circumstances.
I would`ve started with Monty though . . .
Don`t know Meyer at all. Hope he`s the next Butch James!!
See the Sharks are starting as favourites against Kwasse . . . but then so are the Lions 😯
Would have loved to see some new and young faces at centre,we already know what we have with swannie and terblanche why not try something new?
Referee : Jaco Peyper . . . Wonder who he`ll favour?
Wasn`t he the guy that took over from Kaplan when he had that supposed stomach problem when we lost to the FS ( in super 14 have to be specific, we lose to FS all the time ).
Pretty stoked with 1 through 11. Hit’s a bit of a hiccough at 12-13. Then pretty awesome again for 14-15. Plum says he want’s to play a few people out of position during the tournament, depending on how things go. If you’re going to take THAT sort of risk, why not risk playing some younger players? It worked with Lambie, who’s to say it won’t work with Jenner?
I’ll be thoroughly bummed if the Jenners, Lindeques and Stemmets in the set up don’t get a run. I wouldn’t actually be that sad to see Terblanche riding the bench for a few games if it meant we could unearth quality, long-term back up for Adi.
@Original Pierre (Comment 36) : I took a huge gamble on Last man standing to start of with and picked a Leopards win. A lot of picks for the Lions…..go Leopards
Well went with Bulle not going to make the same mistake like the S14 with Sharks to win and then the dame Cheetahs won so go bulle for LMS 😉
eeeeaaaahhhhhh
dis Rugby tyd
@Charlie (Comment 12) : well did lms and my u are in but a bit early when will you be back in the CC 😕
@chaz (Comment 42) : hey chazzie, how are you babe?
@Megatron (Comment 43) : ok thanks 🙄
Stevie is in my LMS
and thats the last chance he is getting from so he better not duck and dive from the trys etc or he is dead meat 👿
@Megatron (Comment 27) : Yes, it’s on Rugbyzone, so it must also be on Supersport.
@Original Pierre (Comment 38) : Wasn’t that Pro Legoete?
I chose the Lions on LMS. There’s no way they’ll lose to the Leopards!!
@wpw (Comment 48) : how sure are you 😆
Let’s go Sharks.. Youngsters have to put up their hand now that they get the chance!
Predictions this weekend?
Griquas VS Sharks – Sharks by 7-10 points
Boks VS All Blacks – Boks by 3-5 points
To win against Griquas in Kimberley in the first round is a must for momentum and confidence… The Griquas have a good squad, but I still think the Sharks have that something more…
The Bok game is going to be a titanic clash, I think there will be collateral damage – I hope Butch keeps himself together if he comes on and once again terrorizes Dan Carter in the flyhalf channel, Dan don’t like Butch rushing up on him… (obviously Butch coming on depends on the scoreboard, Morne Steyn’s boot is too important to replace in a close game… Why oh why don’t we have Frans at the back, his 60m long bombs are demoralizing to any opponent, I don’t buy the story that “he was only available for the Welsh Test… in truth”…
GO SHARKS, GO BOKKE!!!!!!
The butterflies have started…
close brackets)…
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 1) : Seems the pessimism on the youngsters missing out was misplaced.
On that note, one day to kick off and Meyer hasn’t retired!!
Anyone have the superbru pool code for sharksworld?
@Gaff (Comment 53) : LOL re: Meyer… I would like to know what really happened there, but if he stays and if he plays, that won’t matter, life is strange and everyone deserves a second or third chance…
Seems he’s made up with the team, thats good enough for me. Lets see some unity on the field and some strong performances from him.
@chaz (Comment 42) : Hopefully for the game against the Cheetahs @ the end of this month 😉
@Gaff (Comment 54) : for which comp?
Well we did say considering injuries… but if I were selector this would be what my backs would look like:
15. Frans Steyn
14. JPP
13. Jaque Fourie
12. Jean DV
11. Habs
10. Morne Steyn
9. Fourie DP
20. Ruan Pienaar
21. Juan De Jongh / Wynand Olivier
22. Gio Aplon / Francois Hougaard
Whoa!!! Wrong comment on wrong blog… Forgive me, very busy at the office – which is horrible for a Friday… Read Bakkies Fit… My bad…
Sorry, For the currie cup. But have just searched and applied for it. Thanks
@Pokkel (Comment 40) : Where do I find this Last Man Standing competition again?
Or is it too late to join?
@Original Pierre (Comment 62) : http://www.justrugby.net.
You still have an hour or so to enter
@robdylan (Comment 63) : Found it thx Rob.
Leaving it late hehehe
Hope the Sharks doesn`t follow my example tomorrow!!
GO PUUUUUMAS!!!!
@Original Pierre (Comment 64) : please tell me you didn’t pick the Pumas in round 1?
well done & good luck to all the debutants 😎
@Original Pierre (Comment 64) : this would take care of few lifelines on LMS
Go PUUUUMAS 😉