The Cheetahs have made only one change to their team that went down to the Bulls at Loftus last week. Coenie Oostuisen comes in at his favored position of loose head prop after coming onto the tight head side of the scrum of the bench early in the second half for the past couple of weeks. Oostuizen forms part of a strong front row with Springbok hooker Adriaan Strauss and the quietly impressive Lourens Adriaanse and would back themselves to put pressure on a struggling and tiring Sharks front row.
With Oosthuizen included in this starting XV the Cheetahs arguably have two of the most effective men to compete with and disrupt the Sharks break down, an area of their game that they have not been all that convincing in, especially after losing some of their big men to injury and later their only specialist open side flanker. Oosthuizen was one of the top players in the pilfering stat in last years Super Rugby and it is well know that the Sharks struggle to counter the mongrel of Heinrich Brussow at the break down.
Brussouw will have a thing or two to prove as he was not selected for Heyneke Meyer’s training squad earlier this week, although Meyer has revealed that the focus of the training camp was the break down.
Cheetahs:
Coenie Oosthuisen ,Adriaan Strauss (captain),, Lourens Adriaanse, Lodewyk de Jager,Francois Uys,Heinrich Brussow, Lappies Labuschagne, Phillip van der Walt,Piet van Zyl, Burton Francis, Raymond Rhule, Robert Ebersohn,Johan Sadie, Willie le Roux, Hennie Daniller
Replacements: Ryno Barnes, Trevor Nyakane, Landman Ligtoring, Frans Viljoen , Tewis de Bruyn, Brummer Francois, Ryno Benjamin.
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Now where is the logic in dropping the impressive Nkanyane to the bench and playing Coenie at loosehead given he spent the year playing tighthead off the bench and doing a damn good job of it.
How is Coenie meant to settle at 3 if the Cheetahs now move him to 1 again. Given Nkanyane’s form this year, surely he should have been retained at 1, with Coenie starting at 3?
This is a very good Cheetahs team but it will take some doing to beat the Sharks at home…..
Hope the Sharks can take this one and stay at the top.
Good luck guys.
@Saffex (Comment 1) : I guess it is the lesser of two evils. Nyakane deserves a breather, and Coenie is adept at playing loosehead. after 60 minutes or so, Coenie shifts to TH, and Nyakane comes on for a run.
@KingCheetah (Comment 3) : I’m guessing Adriaanse needs just as much of a breather. I would have thought it make more sense to start Coenie at 3 in the name of further developing his quest to be a tighthead.
The Sharks frot row tiring? Didn’t they have a recent bye? If any front row should be tiring, it’s that of the Cheetahs, who have had no bye, and still need to front up to a virtual bok front row this weekend, and against the ever improving Kings a week later before earning a rest.
@Saffex (Comment 4) : I hear you, think Nyakane was battling a niggle a week or two ago, and Nyakane has been busy around the park.
@Saffex (Comment 1) : I suspect it’s simply tactical – exploiting the opposing team’s weaknesses. I wouldn’t read too much into it.
Dumbest move Naka could have made…Nyakane has been superb and hardly gives away any scrum panalties. Coenie gives away soo many scrum panalties (at loosehead especially; at tighthead he scrums in and the refs can’t make the correct call so he gets away with it) it is insane.
Wet game…lots of scrums…Coenie gets penalised…Lambie gonna kick everything over… Sharks win…simple.
@JJR (Comment 8) : Kak man, Coenie has been huge in the scrums this year at 3 off the bench
This is a good looking team from the Cheeters..
Sorry.. I’m pessimistic. But I’m not expecting that much from the Sharks this weekend.
Reading the news elsewhere… Looks like the Cheetahs are really targeting us and fancying their chances this weekend.
sorry to say but I think the result will depend on which Shark side pitch for the match.
@Saffex (Comment 9) : At 3 he looks okay because he gets away with it, hard for Refs to call scrumming in, especially at 3…have a good look when he scrums at 3 again…always scrumming in and up…hardly ever scrums straight. At Loosehead he is absolutely useless…always collapsing.
How are we going to dominate that pack and ensure that it doesn’t give the back line quality ball. Can’t allow a Cheetah pack to gain parity upfront. If you allow them to get good ball they’ll teach you rugby lesson.