Sharksworld has learned that scrumhalf Conrad Hoffmann has been called up to join the Sharks tour party and may already be on his way to join his team mates in Wellington as they prepare for Friday’s match against the Hurricanes.
The Sharks website has confirmed that Hoffmann has been summoned to replace Odwa Ndungane in the tour party, with the latter having sustained a groin injury in practice on Tuesday.
Whether Hoffmann will arrive in time to take part in Friday’s encounter remains to be seen; The assumption is that Louis Ludik will probably take over on the left wing against the Hurricanes, with either Marius Joubert or Paul Jordaan set to come onto the bench.
Our earlier information that Fred Michalak would be returning home seems to be wide of the mark.
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I hope Hoffman is over his injury and can stay injury free for the immediate future.
Good to hear he is fit enough to be able to join the Sharks. I only hope he is able to stay injury free and live up to his potential so that we can have a bit more competition at scrumhalf.
@Viking (Comment 1) : that would be ideal for the lad, ja….
Odwa might not be the quickest, but he is one of the safest.
This is a setback for us.
I Hope we rather use Jordaan on the bench than Joubert. Joubert is a liability at best, and adduming you want to use him in the last 10 minutes or so when we have not been playing good rugby makes him dangerous for us. I would rather go with Jordaan who has shown against the Bulls that he can make things happen in the tail end of the game.
If it is for Odwa, which it seems to be, its a bit of a weird call up?
We have more than enough cover at scrumhalf, and it is not like he is going to get game time anyway?
Why not bring in Sithole and see what the man can do at this level, I am sure he will take the opportunity with both hands!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) :
I agree!
If they select MJ over PJ for the 22 shirt i will be pissed. We need that x-factor off the bench, hurricanes play an open brand, MJ won’t be able to keep up and the open style will give Jordaan more space.
Jordaan asseblief Plum!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) : More than enough scrummie cover? 1 scrumhalf and one scrummie/flyhalf on tour…that’s not great cover…we have Ludik and Jordaan who have hardly played on this tour…why would Sithole be a good call up? Doesn’t make sense…to me anyway. Sithole will get targeted so badly with the high balls…just like Mvovo had to work on his skills so does Sithole. Jordaan would be a better 14 option right now than Sithole, despite Jordaan actually being a 13.
@JJR (Comment 9) :
You could argue that Bosman covers 10 so Freddie can slot into 9 if Charl gets injured.
I mean one of Fred or Mcloed goes down before a game then we only have one fit scrummie…not ideal…we have Ludik, Jordaan and Joubert that haven’t really had much time…there is no need to call up a wing. JPP can go to wing, Jordaan and Ludik…Sharks made the right choice calling up Hoffmann.
@Viking (Comment 5) : you realise that all the times Jordaan’s name was mentioned in that last 10 minutes against the Bulls, it was actually Whitehead with the ball?
The poor oke actually hasn’t done anything yet at this level.
@JJR (Comment 9) : you’ve seen Jordaan under high balls, then? Must have seen him do very well in that aspect, to rate him a better prospect at wing that Sbura…
Mind if I ask when and where you saw this?
@JJR (Comment 11) : BTW, I agree that bringing over yet another wing wouldn’t make sense.
@Pokkel (Comment 10) : Yes i know Fred can cover 9…but we only have 2 guys that can play scrummie in our squad and we have at least 3 guys even with Odwa out that can take his place in the current group…bringing up Sithole isn’t needed, Hoffmann would be needed before Sithole would be needed.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) : Agree too. Would far rather have Sithole over there than another scrumhalf. We don’t need three. If anything happened to McLeod then Bosman can play at 10 with Michalak at scrummie.
I have this opinion simply because I think Sithole should have been on tour already anyway.
@robdylan (Comment 13) : What i mean is that Jordaan and Ludik can play wing and they in the current group, so no need for Sithole. I’ve seen Jordaan at wing previously and he was really good under the high ball, he actually gets into the air, Sithole stays grounded a lot of the time.
Sithole is a future star no doubt, just needs to learn about Ndungane workrate 🙂
@rhineshark (Comment 16) : But we need 4 guys who can take Ndungane’s place? Makes no sense…
@JJR (Comment 17) : when did you see him play wing?
Genuinely interested to know, because last year he only played flyhalf and a little bit of centre for the Sharks u21s.
@robdylan (Comment 12) : I still believe that he did well with the chances he got. Jordaan and whitehead in the midfield at the end of the game is just what you need to keep up the pace. Putting Joubert in there is a waste of time and could very much cost you the game if things are tight.
@robdylan (Comment 19) : SA U20’s
A big loss to lose Odwa. Not referring to anyone on this site as we all know the value of Odwa. What people on other blogs fail to see is he has never let the Sharks down. Solid on defence and always in the right place. Very good under the high ball too. Sure he has lost speed, but that is not a problem when doing everything else very well.
Hurry up and get well Odwa.
So Ludick probably will now start seeing he can cover fb and wing. Odwa covered those positions as well. So really can’t see Jordaan on the bench and that is a damn shame really. Feel he will offer more than Ludick.
Just thinking ahead if Viljoen ever picks up a injury I would rather we shift Lambie to fb and bring in Bosman at fh than have Ludick at the back. Now just keeping fingers crossed NONE pick up injuries. Also hoping Lambie can start, but only if he is 100% he is a key player and we need him for another 10 games.
Wishing Hoffman all the best too. Still not completely convinced by him, but to be fair to him he does need plenty game time.
Go Sharks.
@Puma (Comment 22) : He almost let the sharks down once. Crusaders game in 2007. He knocked the ball on a open try line. Luckily he went on to correct his mistake in the 83rd odd minute to score the winning try with Ruan making the conversion 😉
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) : Have to agree with you Rich. We should have brought over Sithole. Would have loved to have given him some game time here in the S15.
We have McLeod and Freddie to cover sh. Could be that Lambie might not be ready for this game and Freddie will start again at fh with Bosman covering there. Think we should have covered ourselves with a explosive wing like Sithole. The more game time Sithole gets at the level the better he will become. Hope really hope they start Jordaan there and not Ludick.
Good luck to you Conrad, now let’s see some fire in that belly!
@Viking (Comment 23) : I am talking about this year and last….
He has now become Mr. Dependable… 😉
@Viking (Comment 23) : Also if it was not for his intercept on Saturday we would have lost buddy.. 😉
@Puma (Comment 22) : A lot of people on this site have been slating Odwa after his performance against te Waratahs, and yet he made both Supersport and Rubgy365’s (or was it Planet Rugby) SA team of the week…. Some food for thought, maybe?
@Culling Song (Comment 28) : Okay I don’t read everyones posts, not here or anywhere else. Just read mostly the last 3 posts as think those bloggers may be still on line to answer back too.
Well shame on the bloggers here that have slated Odwa then. If it was not for his intercept on Saturday we would have lost. He is safe as houses and has been for two years now. I think it is a huge loss to lose him right now.
use marius joubert, he has ALL the experience!
@Megatron (Comment 30) : I havent seen Sbura playing yet this year and if anyone knows the answer to this it will be you. How do you rate his defence as opposed to last year?
@Salmonoid (Comment 31) : hhmm, not yet convinced, he still misses tackles because of (mostly) his positioning. i’m not too confident.
i’m not saying he is a liability but there’s a lot of room for improvement.
i don’t understand the problem because he played centre at high school and his allignment was not questionable.
@Megatron (Comment 32) : Thanks, Do you think he would prefer playing centre?
@Salmonoid (Comment 33) : no, it is nothing insurmountable, even lwazi fails at sometimes, he was acutely exposed in last year’s tri-nations.