The best news to come out of the Sharks’ 50-19 win over the Pumas on Friday night was a clean slate in terms of fresh injury concerns, with none of the players taking part picking up any concerns ahead of the Super Rugby season opener on Saturday.
Unlike their previous warm-up, where the Sharks lost both Keegan Daniel and Tim Whitehead to serious injuries, coach John Plumtree was far more satisfied with the Nelspruit trip, both in terms of the quality of opposition encountered, and the state of health of the squad after the game.
The Sharks will, in particular, be pleased with the good form shown by both Jacques Botes and Marcell Coetzee during the lowveld clash, with the latter in particular perhaps emerging as a front-runner to wear the number 8 jersey against the Cheetahs this weekend.
The Sharks will be without Bismarck du Plessis (knee), Keegan Daniel (knee), Butch James (knee), Monde Hadebe (knee) and Tim Whitehead (broken arm) when the season kicks off, while Willem Alberts is still battling with a shoulder injury and may not recover in time. Otherwise, coach Plumtree will have a full squad to choose from.
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so many knee injuries wow 😯
@Poisy (Comment 1) : yeah but Butch don’t really count. He always has some knee issue, even when fit and playing.
@Viking (Comment 2) : good point
i think every team battles with injuries. it is a problem with the longer seasons.
What about Kanko – is he available to play?
@Poisy (Comment 1) : crazy huh?
@Bokhoring (Comment 5) : I sure hope so. I have missed the bloke after he ended the super rugby season se well last year.
@Bokhoring (Comment 5) : I’m sure he is, but might need to intro him off the bench… Japan to Super Rugby is a big step up
So possible loosies are 6.Botes 7.Deysel 8.Marcell with Kango and\or Tera on the bench. Sounds good. Maybe alberts on the bench.
@Viking (Comment 7) : We definately missed him in the line outs!
Sorry to say Rob but Kanko must start. It’s the first game so I don’t think any of the guys are upto super rugby speed.