Assuming that Heyneke Meyer doesn’t radically change the make-up of his squad between now and the inaugural Castle Rugby Championship, Friday night’s Sharks lineup to take on the John Smit World XV could end up giving us a pretty good indication of what that team’s Currie Cup lineup may look like.
Whether the above assumption is a sensible one at all, though, remains to be seen; certainly, the Sharks seem a little over-represented at Bok level amongst the loose forwards and with the likes of Schalk Burger set to return in time for the quadrangular tournament, there could be the likes of a Ryan Kankowski or a Keegan Daniel dropping back down. For now, though, the Sharks are going to have to dig deep into the loose forward talent pool.
The tight five should be ok, with both regular Super Rugby locks still in the mix and the second-string front row all experienced at Super Rugby level too. The Sharks also haven’t lost all that many backs to the Boks, although they will be stretched at flyhalf and wing.
Predicting a lineup for Friday night probably isn’t too difficult at this stage, although we don’t really know what the injury situation is in the camp (a number of players with niggles probably won’t feature). The most interesting selection should be at flyhalf, where I anticipate Riaan Viljoen will be given a run to see if he can be the man to step into Pat Lambie’s shoes for the Currie Cup campain.
Possible Sharks lineup:
15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Sbura Sithole, 10 Riaan Viljoen, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes (capt), 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Dale Chadwick
16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Jandre Marais, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Marius Joubert, 22 Gouws Prinsloo
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Bosman to 10 and Williams/Viljoen to 12.
Rob what happened in the club game this weekend. Any info?
@Ben (Comment 2) : Rovers won pretty comfortably
Deysel to captain and Marius Joubert to peel the naartjies 😆 thats the only change I would’ve mad.
@KingRiaan (Comment 4) : with u on that! Going to the Sharks ladies Breakfast on Wednesday am living in fear that I’ll be at his(MJ) table! 🙁
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 5) : Haha hopefully not, but if you are, ask yourself what you can do for your team not what your team can do for you 😉
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 5) : photos, we want photos hey…
@robdylan (Comment 3) : Nice, thanks..
15 Goosen/Viljoen, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Ludik/Jordaan, 12 Whitehead , 11 Sbura Sithole/Jordaan, 10 Bosman/Hoffman(Good Performances in Past), 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes (capt), 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Dale Chadwick(van Dyk, very Good Player)
16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Jandre Marais, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Marius Joubert(Not!!!), 22 Gouws Prinsloo/Viljoen
I know there will be a post soon but here’s the team solong…
1. Dale Chadwick
2. Craig Burden
3. Wiehahn Herbst
4. Jandre Marais
5. Anton Bresler
6. Francois Kleinhans
7. Jean Deysel (Captain)
8. Lubabalo Mtembu
9. Charl McLeod (VC)
10. Riaan Viljoen
11. S’Bura Sithole
12. Meyer Bosman
13. Tim Whitehead
14. Odwa Ndungane
15. Louis Ludik
Replacements
16. Kyle Cooper
17. Julian Redelinghuys
18. Peet Marais
19. Chris Cloete
20. Cobus Reinach
21. Gouws Prinsloo
22. Rosko Specman
Only Botes not there as predicted… The bench a bid different.. But hey no MJ…
No MJ, wondering whether he and Botes will play for John play ❓
but at least no MJ for the sharks team 😈