Sharks under 21 coach Sean Everitt has named potentially his strongest possible lineup for Friday’s semi-final, against Western Province in Ravensmead, with very few changes to the side that played against the Lions last week.
Lock forward Pieter-Steph – a young man from Swartland in the cape who only turned 19 in August this year – has been one of the stand out players in the pack all year and he returns to the number 4 jersey this week, after missing out through injury against the Lions. Mike Williams, another impressive lock forward who returned to the side only last week after a long injury break, drops to the bench, with the unfortunate Russian international Karolis Navickas missing out after being in the 22 for most of the season.
In the only other change, Siseko Jafta is promoted into the starting lineup after being reintroduced off the bench last week. Surprsingly, though, it’s not Brynard Stander who he replaces, but rather Chris Cloete, with the dynamic opensider named in 19, while Jafta will operate at 6. Stander has provided great go-forward for the team in recent weeks and his retention at blind side flank makes sense from that perspective.
The backline is completely unchanged, with Paul Jordaan, Heimar Williams and Piet Lindeque forming an exciting attacking axis, all three of whom will still be available to the side next year.
Everitt and his charges, though, will be looking for success in the 2011 season and hoping that their recent run of good form will see them through against Western Province in a tricky away semi-final.
The Sharks Under 21s
15. Gouws Prinsloo
14. Jaco van Tonder
13. Piet Lindeque
12. Heimar Williams
11. Sbura Sithole
10. Paul Jordaan
9. Cobus Reinach
8. Lubabalo Mtembu
7. Brynard Stander
6. Siseko Jafta
5. Peet Marais
4. Pieter-Steph du Toit
3. Nick Schonert
2. Monde Hadebe (Capt)
1. Danie Mienie
Replacements
16. Shaun Malton
17. Njabulo Mkize
18. Mike Williams
19. Chris Cloete
20. Fred Zeilinga
21. Jared Meyer
22. Nico van der Westhuizen
Tweet
One team annouced. Go Sharkies!
Waiting for the other team to be announced!
Province line-up.
15. Ryan Nell
14. JP du Plessis
13. Berton Klaasen
12. Michael van der Spuy
11. Tshotsho Mbovane
10. Kurt Coleman
9. Fred Muller
8. Nizaam Carr
7. Helmut Lehmann (C)
6. Reuben Johannes
5. Reniel Hugo
4. Eben Etzebeth
3. Ruan Smith
2. Rob Herring
1. Brummer Badenhorst
Reserves:
16. Scarra Ntubeni
17. JP Smith
18. Quinn Roux
19. Wilhelm van der Sluys
20. Grant Hattingh
21. Andries Truter
22. Sam Lane
@hendrikp (Comment 2) :
A lot of surprises there.
Ive been waiting for two years now for Plumtree to give lindeque a chance in the senior side.The kid has bags of talent he is big.quick and skilfull.The bulls did not hesitate to give venter his centre partner from grey a chance.I am confident lindeque will impress !
@hendrikp (Comment 2) : where’s Tom Botha?
Jp du plessis at wing hmmm very interesting.
@robdylan (Comment 5) :
No idea.
Surprised with a few of the names on the bench.
Not too surprised with JP du Plessis on the wing, presuming that Adams is out injured or something!
Very pleased to see that ex bishops flyhalf is fit again.Sam lane imo is better than coleman and the greek.
@Muzi (Comment 8) :
Yeah was a bit surprised with that selection. Thought for sure they’d be backing Sam Lane. Coleman just doesn’t look a natural in his decision making and so forth. The Stormers only really asked him to be another pair of hands, and the others took care of the rest.
Also a bit surprised Ntubeni is on the bench.
@hendrikp (Comment 3) : Ja. Scurra on the bench is the biggest for me. Like Quinn, he must be returning from injury.
Lane loses out to Coleman coz Cohen is out and I don’t think they want to take a chance on vd Spuy’s boot
Hendrikp i havent watched rob herring is he better than scarra
We really need to contain Nizaam Carr in this game. He’s a ballplayer and a half.
Also we have to get after little Freddy Muller at 9.
That WP line is scary.
A tough choice to leave out fetcher Chris Cloete. He’s been one of my favourite players this year. However Jafta did very well against the Lions when he came on, so it would have been difficult to leave him out. With tough Mike Williams relegated to the bench, it was vital to have bruiser Brynard Stander stay in the starting lineup.
I hope we can pull this one off.
@Muzi (Comment 11) : Scurra is one of the best u21 players of the season imho. His throwing was a bit off in Durban a few weeks back but the wind was strong that day.
Beet hows young hadebe progressing
@Muzi (Comment 15) : I think he’ll be one of the guys we hold on to until the end of the Vodacom Cup. Even so, with Kyle Cooper around, he’ll have limited oppo’s to prove himself. I think Monde will have to work really hard to secure a future in pro rugby in SA.
beet do u think kyle cooper will get consistent game time a move to the bulls will benefit him hehe.
@Muzi (Comment 17) : I asked about the Bulls hookers on R365. Someone said that Henry Baatjies had retired. Nothing was said about Zane Botha.
What is the new pecking order up there?
@Muzi (Comment 17) : Have you ever played against or watched twins Ruan and JP Smith play. They were at Paarl Gym btw if you didn’t know.
@hendrikp (Comment 9) : Sam is off to Australia according to his twitter account, and it seems to be before the final (if we make it), so that might have forced some decisions for Dobson.
@molly (Comment 20) :
Ooh. Well I remember him saying that he had no interest in playing for the Springboks (not that he’s shown enough to be considered) so we shouldn’t really be wasting time with him then!
Good riddance!
Beet chilliboy is the first choice hooker followed by willie wepener.Zane botha was playing for tukkies this year i doubt he got a new bulls senior contract.Mbonambi from the under 21s is probably the 3rd in line.We should have signed callie visagie.
Beet i played against mbovane…tythan adams…johannes…jp du plessis i know nothing about the twins where are they ?
@hendrikp (Comment 21) :
Sam just happens to be a born and bred Aussie. He studied at UCT and was good enough to make the WP age group sides.
What’s with the ‘good riddance’ comment??
Maybe he misses his family and friends in Oz.
@Muzi (Comment 23) :
Check this out:
Ruan Smith
HEIGHT 188 cm
WEIGHT 124 Kg
BIRTH DATE 24 January 1990
Playing Position: Loosehead Prop
Club:Maties 2002 – WP U12 2007 – Queensland U18 2007 – Australian Schools U18 2008 – WP U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week 2010 – WP Vodacom Cup 2011 – WP U21
124kgs! DAAAAAMMMMNNNN!! 😯 😈
@wpw (Comment 25) : 10kg lighter than you – you could take that boy out!
@beet (Comment 19) : they played there with Schoonbee, not so?
Now this is a side I get farking excited about.
Where exactly is Ravensmead? Or am I missing something.
@John Galt (Comment 28) : somewhere in the cape
@robdylan (Comment 29) :
Thanks Rob, do you know if its being televised?
Someone talked about Chris Cloete. I think he has also been playing great this year. He is strong, quick and can steal balls very well. Do you guys think he has a future at the sharks or even higher honours??
@John Galt (Comment 30) : I’m afraid it is not 🙁
@smart (Comment 31) : welcome to Sharksworld…
Yes, I think Chris has a good chance to get somewhere… he’s lucky in that he’s still u21 next year and has grabbed his opportunity while Franna Kleinhans has been out injured (speaking of which, I have no idea what’s wrong with Franna… he’s been out for ever)
Sharks are definitely short of good opensiders and there’s no reason Chris shouldn’t go all the way if he keeps working as hard as he is currently.
@smart (Comment 31) : Hey Smart. Chris has had a great season and made the most of his chances. I agree with what you’ve said, Chris punches above his weight and I’ll even stick my neck out and say that his impressive work on the ground of which stealing plays a big part has been the best in SA u21 this season. He has outstanding technique.
RWC winner Neil Back, one of the best l/fwds of his time was only 1.78m tall and defied the odds to make it to test level. However that said, Chris is probably a little short than Back, meaning he’ll have to work that much harder to convince selectors that a guy of his dimensions can hold his own at senior level. In a nutshell, I think his height may be a bigger obstacle in his path after u21 rugby than his natural ability.
@beet (Comment 34) : I agree with you there. If he does his job on the field then he should be fine. Just look around the country where is there another flank who can steal the ball like him at his age. Its just great for the country. When do you think he will play a game for the currie cup side and do you think there is any other young flanker like him around?? any thoughts or ponts??
@smart (Comment 35) : I think there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the new compressed 6 team Currie Cup for 2012 will play out. At the moment it looks like the first few rounds at least will amount to some kind of glorified Vodacom Cup compo but I could be mistaken. If this is the case and Vodacom Cup players do make up the bulk of the Currie Cup squad for the opening rounds then I’d say that Chris isn’t too much of a long shot to make his debut next season.
In the Sharks camp, he’ll have stiff compo from the talented Frans Kleinhans, who is Chris’ age and has the added advantage of having the type of physique that selectors feel comfortable with.
I would say that Chris’ u21 predecessor is terms of winning turnovers at rucks is a Bulls youngster named Marnus Schoeman, who finished his u21 career last year. Marnus has a pedigree rugby CV, having represented SA at various age group levels. He’s also a shortish player, a bit wider than Chris. After the Vodacom Cup this year he did not make an impact at the Bulls and was loaned out to the Griquas for the CC season. I thought he performed extremely well for the Griquas. Apart from being a strong contender for tackled ball at the breakdowns, Marnus has stood out for his vigour. Following Marnus’s progress will probably give one an idea of where Chris stands in pro rugby in SA.
@beet (Comment 36) : as far as I know (I think Muzi said something) Marnus has been released by the Bulls and will join Griquas full-time.
Interesting, though, that even at Griquas, Marnus is seen as a distinctly second choice behind Downey, who doesn’t play the fetching game at all…