All three Sharks teams will be up against the Blue Bulls in Durban on Saturday, in what promises to be a great day of rugby.
For the senior team, the match is clearly a must-win; you can’t lose any home games in the ABSA Currie Cup and what’s more, since the Blue Bulls are virtually guaranteed to be in the top four at the end of the competition, any chance to deny them log points is crucial and must be taken, lest a semi-final at Loftus become your destiny! The Sharks have their back to the wall here, having lost narrowly to Griquas last weekend. They did manage to take two points from that game, though and a good win over the Bulls will move them nicely into the top half of the log.
A second defeat in two starts and the campaign is already in trouble.
Flyhalf Steve Meyer appears to have a cracked rib, but is nevertheless confident that he’ll be able to play. Hooker Craig Burden is another carrying a niggle and the Sharks would be in real trouble were he to cry off, with John Smit and Bismarck du Plessis both unavailable for the bulk of the competition. JP Pietersen may just be fit enough to come into the selection frame this week, however, while Ross Skeate should also be a good bet to make his Sharks debut.
The Bulls appear to be nursing a few injury concerns of their own, with halfbacks Ruan Snyman and Jacques-Louis Potgieter both in doubt, along with promising loosehead Dean “McGyver” Greyling. Any further raid on the under 21 ranks will play into the hands of the Sharks Under 21 team, sitting pretty at the top of the log courtesy of a huge 106-3 win over Boland last Friday. The Baby Sharks will know that they face a far tougher test against the young Bulls, always strong at age group level and boasting formidable depth. The Sharks themselves should be further bolstered as well, with Baby Bok representatives Sbu Sithole, Monde Hadebe and Kene Okafor coming back into the selection frame. Promising number Lubabalo Mthembu has been released to the SA Sevens team.
The Sharks Under 19 side, coached by Vodacom Cup coach Sean Everitt this year, will kick off their 2010 campaign with the toughest possible fixture. Despite impressing in warm-up games, the team will need to find each other very quickly in order to surprise the Bulls, who already have a good bonus point win under their belt. A number of promising players will be in action, including flyhalf Jaco van Tonder, who trained with the senior squad last month, as well as promising former Wynberg star, Kieran Goss.
Tweet
you dont get 3 games at on venue too often these days,well worth the entrance fee! 🙂
@ruggabugga (Comment 1) : amen to that… and anyone who wants to do live score updates for the under 19 and under 21 games will get extra points
Would love to get that next star but damn blackberry is on the blink!! 😳 🙁
Are any of the these other games on the telly?
Where is Petoors?
Surely he would be invaluable at 10 in a game like this?
As I’ve heard, JLP and Snyman will both be fit to play with only Greyling missing out. Steve is only going to hurt his cracked rib more if he plays.
@Morné (Comment 5) : need you ask!
He has set up his laptop on the physio table
@robdylan (Comment 7) : Rob, concerning your ‘Win Shark’s Tickets’ questions, How about giving us the answers after you’ve selected the winners 💡 . I, for one, have no freakin idea who played for both teams 😳
@Jarson (Comment 8) : sure… can do
It’s not that hard, though…come on!
@Jarson (Comment 8) : I can think of 4…
@robdylan (Comment 9) : Google is my friend 😛
@robdylan (Comment 9) : Ok, after much thought and no help from google I have 1 and a half 😳
@robdylan (Comment 2) : What time are the games Rob? If you want scoring for the U21 game I can always go through earlier?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 13) : I think under 21s is at 3… under 19s prob at 1
I’ll go through to cover the U21 game as well.. I dunno if I will be able to be there early enough for the U19..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 15) : do as much as you can manage… no stress.
There usually aren’t more than 4.5 people watching the under 19 game anyway.
@robdylan (Comment 2) : Will I get extra points if I make the journey from Mpumalanga down to the Shark Tank to watch all three games? I will take notes and do a post match analysis of the game, give it to you to proof read?
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 17) : If points are really THAT important to you I’m sure Rob will give it to you. A cheaper option would be to buy some points from me….cheap cheap.
😉
@DarkDestroyer (Comment 17) : that will definitely be worth lots of points 🙂