Sharks under 21 coach Etienne Fynn has made a fair few changes to his side that went down against the Lions a fortnight ago, with many of those injury enforced. The side faces the log-topping Free State under 21 team in Bloemfontein tomorrow afternoon.
Fullback Keelan Bastew was forced off after just a few minutes of the Lions game, with his ankle injury necessitating a shift to fullback for promising Andre Esterhuizen. The big 19-year-old from Klerksdorp thus vacates the number 12 jersey, opening the way for another big lad, Zimbabwean Gareth Meikle, to come into the starting side off the bench. At right wing, Sean Robinson’s elevation into the shadow Currie Cup squad opens a gap for exciting Japenese winger Kotaro Matsushima; together with left wing Alcino Isaacs, Matsushima was responsible for the bulk of the tries scored by last year’s under 19 side.
Franco Marais was a late withdrawal last week, after he and reserve hooker Greg Bauer bashed heads at the captain’s run. Bauer has recovered this week and starts in place of Morne du Plessis, but there’s still no sign of Marais, meaning former Glenwood (and Bulls under 19) player Jacques Taylor will retain the reserve spot. Fynn has opted for a fresh set of flankers too, with uncapped Dylan Nel starting at open side in place of the benched Murray Bondesio and a first start on the blind for Johan Meyer, with Khaya Majola dropping out this week.
Guy Alexander will again captain from the back of the scrum, while there’s a third new face in the 22, with Mike Bernhard covering centre and wing off the bench.
Sharks under 21:
15 Andre Esterhuizen, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Tyler Fisher, 12 Gareth Meikle , 11 Alcino Isaacs, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Guy Alexander (captain), 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Dylan Nel, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Wiehan Hay, 3 Nicolaas van Dyk, 2 Greg Bauer, 1 Allan Dell
Subs: 16 Jacques Taylor, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 Wade Elliot, 19 Murray Bondesio, 20 Hanco Venter, 21 Brendan Cope, 22 Michael Bernhardt
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Meyer starting @ 7. well well. Andre is a monster @ fullback. Good team for saturday.
Seems as if Ettiene Fynn is coaching the backs and Deon Kayser the forwards. 😈
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 2) : bugger, that will teach me to try and do too many things at once
😳
W
@lionshark (Comment 4) : damn right 🙂
Believe team lost in Bloem today. Certain club players not in the academy are obviously been overlooked. Duncan Campbell is a genuine 10 playing 1st team at Collegians and was also included in club players vs Sharks. He won the U19 CC with the Lions and must surely be worth a go. Another is the 8th man at Durban Collegians. Food for thought.
They won today. 36-24 i think. Who is the no8 of collegians??
The sharks won today. S.A. rugby website is wrong.
Brendan Cope started at fly half and had a great game
@robdylan (Comment 8) :
Great news about Cope. But what happened to Dup?
U21 result was a loss and the U19 won. I rest my case.
Sorry, seems SA Rugby website was wrong. Well done Sharks.
@Horsy (Comment 9) : Rob was called up to sit on the sharks bench at very short notice.The decision was made to start Cope because Rob didn’t even travel to bloem with the rest of the team…he flew up on Sat and only arrived shortly before kick off
How is it that no10 Campbell and no 8 Backeberg from collegians who have been outstanding for the 1st side are excluded but their junior counter parts are playing Cope and Meyer. Both guys in the 1st side are still u21 I believe. Kzn website has some good reports on them. What’s happening? Good to see Nel get a run.
So both the under 19s and under 21s had good wins away from home. Well done.
Robdylan, believe neither player is part of the Sharks Academy. Seems that players outside of the academy are overlooked! Would be interesting to see if the match 22 are all at the Academy.
@lionshark (Comment 15) : hardly surprising, that….