The Sharks team to face the Lions this weekend has been announced with a few changes to the team that beat Western Province at Newlands, seeing the return of the experienced players, the inclusion of Paul Jordaan and a loose trio shuffle.
Coach John Plumtree has opted to immediately thrust the likes of Anton Bresler, Charl McLeod and Louis Ludik into the starting fifteen, meaning that Jandre Marais, Cobus Reinach and Gouws Prinsloo drop to the bench. The rest of the backline is unchanged, with Jordaan proving his fitness late in the week.
The interesting change is Jacques Botes being moved to eighthman, replacing Tera Mtembu, who falls to the bench, with Jean Deysel and Francois Kleinhans making up the rest of the loose trio. Kleinhans gets a start after making quite an impact from the bench last weekend, while Mtembu had a relatively quiet game.
The rest of the forward pack remains the same, with Chadwick, Burden and Herbst getting another week to solidify that front row.
Peet Marais, Conrad Hoffmann and Rosco Speckman lose out on match 22 spots altogether.
The Sharks
15. Louis Ludik
14. Odwa Ndungane
13. Paul Jordaan
12. Meyer Bosman
11. S’bura Sithole
10. Riaan Viljoen
9. Charl McLeod
8. Jacques Botes
7. Jean Deysel (Captain)
6. Francois Kleinhans
5. Anton Bresler
4. Steven Sykes
3. Wiehahn Herbst
2. Craig Burden
1. Dale Chadwick
Replacements
16. Monde Hadebe
17. Julian Redelinghuys
18. Jandre Marais
19. Lubabalo “Tera” Mtembu
20. Cobus Reinach
21. Marius Joubert
22. Gouws Prinsloo
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Go Sharks!!! Lions will be raving mad this weekend. Our boys better be ready.
I would have preferred Reinach, he was really good in difficult conditions on Saturday, and did the basics without yelling at ref or directing traffic.
Bleak to see Tera moved to the bench. I hope this guy gets a lot of game time this Currie Cup.
Reinach deserves an extended run and McLeod deserves an extended break.
Think it was a bit unfair on Tera Mthembu to expect him to thrive in those condition when they know very well that those conditions don’t suit his game
I`m happy with the team.
I probably would`ve stuck McLeod on the bench but otherwise no problems.
Just hope the Sharks will be able to contain a very pi$$ed off lions team this weekend! 😐
I didn’t expect Mtembu to be dropped, but don’t mind this loose trio. Kleinhans is also a very talented player.
I would have also liked to have seen Reinach given another start.
And I’m not sure how ready Jordaan is to play in this game. Will he make the full 80 minutes?
@Original Pierre (Comment 6) :
Half the Lions team will be focused on getting new or other contracts..
This will count in the Sharks’ favour..
@Original Pierre (Comment 6) : Pissed off and trying to prove ability to possible future employers! 🙁
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 8) : I tend to agree with you.
Lions players aren’t known for stepping up when the chips are down, they normally kick themselves when they’re down – should be an implosion come Saturday.
Let’s hope Jordaan can make a full game. Reinach is unlucky. Tera is good, but so is Small Hands: I’m sure they will be duking it out all season.
Mthembu looses the ball to easily in contact ,something he needs to work on
@Talent (Comment 12) : loses*
@FireTheLooser (Comment 10) : however the Sharks are known to lose when they are not suppose to – so you never know 🙄
i would have preferred to have bresler, mccleoud and ludik from the bench. ease them in give them more chance to rest
I must say, given it’s our second team (our 1st team is wearing green and gold this week) its not a bad side! Maybe we can win the Rugby Championship and the Currie Cup at the same time.
@MikeSebMatt (Comment 16) : It will be a tough ask, but we’re good enough! 🙂
Not a bad team this – just really hope Jordaan doesn’t further aggravate that injury.