Let’s do a little run-down of the Sharks match 22 named to play Griquas at Kings Park on Friday night.
Now, I must preface this piece by making an embarrassing admission; while I pride myself on being able to find anything at all, I have had to admit failure on one small score. I haven’t been able to find out how many previous Currie Cup caps Marco Wentzel has. In my defence, even Marco himself reckons it was so long ago that he last played in this competition that he can’t remember! Let’s overlook that one slight missing bit of info and carry on regardless!
No, wait! Thanks to the awesome JW Coetzee of Supersport, I now have Wentzel’s info! Dankie JW and ignore the above, everyone else!
Keegan Daniel leads a team where the starting fifteen has an average age of 27 – rather old, one would think, for a competition meant to be all about youth these days. The average age of the bench, though, is just 24, with Fred Zeilinga (20) the youngest man in the 22 – and also the only still eligible for under 21 rugby. Sizo Maseko, at 22, is the youngest member of the starting fifteen. The veteran’s award is shared by Butch James and Marco Wentzel, both 34, with James four months older than Wentzel.
The pack that starts the match averages 1.88m in height and 110.8 kg in weight. Wentzel is the tallest man in the side at 2m, with Cobus Reinach and Fred Zeilinga joint shortest at 1.75m. Kyle Cooper is the shortest forward (1.78m) and Jaco van Tonder the tallest back (1.86m). Rayno Gerber’s 120kg make him the heaviest man in the squad, with Zeilinga the lightest at 82kg. Daniel’s 97kg frame is the lightest in the pack (he’s the only man under 100kg) wihle Butch James, at 98kg, is the heaviest back.
The team boasts an aggregate 742 Currie Cup caps, at an average of almost 34 per man. Daniel (93) has the most caps overall ahead of Ludik (78, including 43 for the Lions) and Odwa Ndungane (70). Maseko is the only debutant in the starting team – and the only man in the 22 with no senior caps. Zeilinga and Jaco van Tonder are both uncapped at Currie Cup level, while Marco Wentzel, Edwin Hewitt and (possibly) Rayno Gerber should pick up their first Sharks caps in this competition. Butch James, with 373 points for the Sharks, is the top points scorer historically, with Daniel (155 points via 31 tries) and Odwa Ndungane (147 points) coming in next. The team as a whole have scored an aggregate 1025 points for the Sharks in Currie Cup rugby.
Six of the match 22 were schooled in KZN, with Maritzburg College, Westville and Glenwood each boasting two members. Other schools to be twice-represented are Outeniqua (Wentzel and van Tonder) and Dale College (Keegan Daniel and Tera Mtembu).
| Surname | First Names | Height | Weight | Age | School | CC Caps | CC Points | |||
| Sharks | Other | Total | Sharks | |||||||
| 1 | Chadwick | Dale Michael | 1.83 | 113 | 24 | WBHS | 25 | 0 | 25 | 10 |
| 2 | Cooper | Kyle Lorran | 1.78 | 109 | 24 | Glenwood | 25 | 0 | 25 | 5 |
| 3 | Herbst | Wiehahn Jovan | 1.80 | 113 | 25 | Klerksdorp | 40 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| 4 | Hewitt | Edwin Westley | 1.96 | 117 | 25 | AHS | 0 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 5 | Wentzel | Marco van Zyl | 2.00 | 117 | 34 | Outeniqua | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 |
| 6 | Stander | Brynard | 1.90 | 108 | 23 | WBHS | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | Deysel | Jean Roy | 1.91 | 112 | 28 | Hentie Cilliers | 51 | 0 | 51 | 30 |
| 8 | Daniel | Keegan Rhys | 1.88 | 97 | 28 | Dale | 93 | 0 | 93 | 155 |
| 9 | McLeod | Charl | 1.80 | 88 | 30 | Wonderboom | 46 | 9 | 55 | 45 |
| 10 | James | Andrew David | 1.84 | 98 | 34 | MC | 45 | 14 | 59 | 373 |
| 11 | Mvovo | Lwazi Ncedo | 1.85 | 94 | 27 | Maria Louw | 44 | 0 | 44 | 100 |
| 12 | Whitehead | Timothy John | 1.88 | 90 | 25 | Grey High | 7 | 13 | 20 | 0 |
| 13 | Ludik | Louis | 1.83 | 92 | 26 | EG Jansen | 35 | 43 | 78 | 30 |
| 14 | Maseko | Sizophila Sabelo | 1.84 | 88 | 22 | Ermelo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Ndungane | Odwa Mzuzo | 1.84 | 93 | 32 | Hudson Park | 70 | 0 | 70 | 147 |
| 16 | Burden | Craig Bruce | 1.84 | 105 | 28 | MC | 65 | 0 | 65 | 115 |
| 17 | Gerber | Rayno | 1.90 | 120 | 32 | Framesby | 0 | 40 | 40 | 0 |
| 18 | Marais | Peet Celliers | 1.98 | 115 | 22 | Welkom | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 19 | Mtembu | Lubabalo Siphosethu | 1.87 | 103 | 22 | Dale | 6 | 0 | 6 | 5 |
| 20 | Reinach | Jacobus Meyer | 1.75 | 84 | 23 | Grey Kollege | 14 | 0 | 14 | 10 |
| 21 | Zeilinga | Frederik Johannes | 1.75 | 82 | 20 | Glenwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | van Tonder | Jaco | 1.86 | 96 | 22 | Outeniqua | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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anyone know what province Klerksdorp is in?
@robdylan (Comment 1) : It’s in the North West province.
@robdylan (Comment 1) : Northwest
@war1 (Comment 2) : 23 seconds!!
@Blue Centurion (Comment 4) : Whether it’s an inch or a mile, winning’s winning. 😉
My guess is some of those weights are out of date. Doubt Wentzel only weighs 108kg. The likes of Chadwick and Herbst must be bigger than 113kg these days. Peet Marais looks closer to 120kg
@Saffex (Comment 6) : ok, you’re probably right about Wentzel in any event.
His Wasps profile last had him at 117kg. I’ll update him.
I am getting excited about the game tonight!!! I haven’t felt this way in a while.
In 1987 I stepped up from primary school to high school where I decided to attend Hoërskool Monument (Monnas). I was so scared of the big matric boys and the initiation that was ahead. I found myself being initiated by a very calm person that only used me to buy snacks from the snoepie at break for him and his girlfriend. Today, this matric is head of coaching at my beloved Sharks. I wish Brendan Venter all the best with his stay at the Sharks. He has always been a role model for me. Good luck and bring back some silverware.
@Bite me (Comment 9) : awesome story!
@Saffex (Comment 6) : Saffex …you and the blerrie weights man ! haha..hows things fatty baldy chop ? you still angry bro ? I havent been sworn at in awhile..man i miss you on there . lol. hows tricks otherwise ?
@Bite me (Comment 9) : My matric boss’ claim to fame was collapsing just before the finishing line of the Comrades, getting up on his hands and knees and heading back in the direction from which he had just run 90 odd k’s. Fortunately he realised his mistake, with the help of the crowd, and managed to crawl across the line in 10th position. He still owes me a bottle of wine.
Whew! Minor heart attack averted. Sharks vs Griquas was removed from Sky Sports Extra listing this morning but after a panicked call to sky I just got confirmation that it’s been moved to Sky Sports 4 red button. (For all the UK based Sharks fans)
@gregkaos (Comment 13) : thanks for letting me know.
Can we still watch it online, or does it have to be on the TV?
@robdylan (Comment 14) : Hrmmm good point. I’m going to try find out asap.
@gregkaos (Comment 15) : the bugger with Red Button is that you can’t record the fecker
@robdylan (Comment 14) : Ag no. Doesn’t look like we can use the red button feature online. Looks like I’m going home early today then.
@gregkaos (Comment 17) : cool – thanks for checking.
I’ve put a grand on the Sharks to win the CC at 3:1. Let’s see what you can do Mr Venter.
I wonder if I should trust OverPlay and the SuperSport website… or rather chase the kids out of the lounge to be extra safe…
@robdylan (Comment 20) : I never had a problem with overplay. I have a decent proxy that I am using and it is working fingers crossed.
@lostfish (Comment 21) : Overplay works pretty well, but I’ve found the streaming itself quite unreliable. That’s weird, because there really shouldn’t be any latency introduced as there isn’t a proxy in between… although I guess there has to be something of that sort for the thing to work.
@robdylan (Comment 22) : I am watching the Ashes now while shoveling food down the kids throats to have them in bed by kick off 😆