Let’s do a little run-down of the Sharks match 22 named to play the Lions at Kings Park on Friday evening.
Jacques Botes leads the team, after Keegan Daniel has again been ruled out and the starting team again has an average age of just over 27. While there’s a little more in the line of youth on the bench, the entire squad has an average age of over 26, with Fred Zeilinga (20) still the youngest and Butch James (34 and some change) the oldest. Botes, Marco Wentzel, Charl McLeod and Odwa Ndungane are the other 30-plus players in the squad.
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.
The team boasts an aggregate 798 Currie Cup caps, at an average of just over 36 per man. Botes (137) has the most caps overall ahead of Ludik (79, including 43 for the Lions) and Odwa Ndungane (69). Botes is now third on the list of most capped Currie Cup players ever. Heimar Williams is the only debutant in the starting team – and the only man in the 22 with no senior caps. Apart from Williams, SP Marais will also make a Sharks debut this week; he has 15 Currie Cup caps for the EP Kings as well, though. Butch James, with 388 points for the Sharks, is the top points scorer historically, with Botes (200 points via 41 tries) and Odwa Ndungane (147 points) coming in next. The team as a whole have scored an aggregate 1090 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 Affies in Pretoria (Edwin Hewitt and Heimar Williams).
| Surname | First Names | Height | Weight | Age | School | CC Caps | CC Points | |||
| Sharks | Other | Total | Sharks | |||||||
| 1 | Chadwick | Dale Michael | 1.83 | 113 | 24 | WBHS | 26 | 0 | 26 | 10 |
| 2 | Cooper | Kyle Lorran | 1.78 | 109 | 24 | Glenwood | 26 | 0 | 26 | 5 |
| 3 | Herbst | Wiehahn Jovan | 1.80 | 113 | 25 | Klerksdorp | 41 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| 4 | Hewitt | Edwin Westley | 1.96 | 117 | 25 | AHS | 1 | 12 | 13 | 0 |
| 5 | Wentzel | Marco van Zyl | 2.00 | 117 | 34 | Outeniqua | 1 | 35 | 36 | 0 |
| 6 | Stander | Brynard | 1.90 | 108 | 23 | WBHS | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | Deysel | Jean Roy | 1.91 | 112 | 28 | Hentie Cilliers | 52 | 0 | 52 | 30 |
| 8 | Botes | Louis Jacques | 1.82 | 97 | 32 | Potch Gim | 110 | 27 | 137 | 200 |
| 9 | McLeod | Charl | 1.80 | 88 | 30 | Wonderboom | 47 | 9 | 56 | 45 |
| 10 | James | Andrew David | 1.84 | 98 | 34 | Maritzburg | 46 | 14 | 60 | 388 |
| 11 | Mvovo | Lwazi Ncedo | 1.85 | 94 | 27 | Maria Louw | 45 | 0 | 45 | 105 |
| 12 | Williams | Heimar | 1.80 | 93 | 22 | AHS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Ludik | Louis | 1.83 | 92 | 26 | EG Jansen | 36 | 43 | 79 | 30 |
| 14 | Marais | Sarel Petrus | 1.84 | 80 | 24 | Paarl Boys | 0 | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| 15 | Ndungane | Odwa Mzuzo | 1.84 | 93 | 32 | Hudson Park | 69 | 0 | 69 | 147 |
| 16 | Burden | Craig Bruce | 1.84 | 105 | 28 | Maritzburg | 66 | 0 | 66 | 115 |
| 17 | Gerber | Rayno | 1.90 | 120 | 32 | Framesby | 1 | 40 | 41 | 0 |
| 18 | Marais | Peet Celliers | 1.98 | 115 | 22 | Welkom | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 19 | Mtembu | Lubabalo Siphosethu | 1.87 | 103 | 22 | Dale | 7 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| 20 | Reinach | Jacobus Meyer | 1.75 | 84 | 23 | Grey Kollege | 15 | 0 | 15 | 10 |
| 21 | Zeilinga | Frederik Johannes | 1.75 | 82 | 20 | Glenwood | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | van Tonder | Jaco | 1.86 | 96 | 22 | Outeniqua | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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” Odwa Ndungane (147 points) ”
I can’t remember Odwa ever kicking for posts 😕
@Die Kriek (Comment 1) : Well if you do the sums that was one conversion and 29 tries… easy to miss one conversion.
… just excuse the pun about missing conversions please, cause Odwa kicked one over
@SuperEtts (Comment 2) : True, but still, Odders kicking at goal, I just can not get myself to even imagine that happening
I’m not going to go dig up the game in which Odwa kicked a conversion! 🙂
@Die Kriek (Comment 1) : @SuperEtts (Comment 3) : You guys are too sharp. 😎
Now we know, Odwa has kicked at goal, and was successful once – Kind of like Botes kicking at goal (how many times has he been successful?). 😀
I’ve asked Odwa if he remembers.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 6) : I am still pissed with that Botes taking the Kick at goal… Cost me a yellow cap. 👿 👿
Ndungane drop-kicked a conversion of his own try against Griekwas on 4 Oct 2008
http://www.psl.co.za/content.asp?id=17122
@Baylion (Comment 9) : ok, you are my hero. How the HELL did you find that?
@robdylan (Comment 10) : Google is a wonderful thing 🙂 Searched “odwa ndungane kick conversion” without quotes
@Baylion (Comment 11) : well done! I didn’t think of that
@Baylion (Comment 9) : I’m surprised at how many of that team is still around.
Rob, apologies for hijacking the thread. Any idea or suspicions on where Paul Treu is off to next after his sudden departure at the Blitzbokke?
@vanmartin (Comment 14) : I’ve not heard anything.
@robdylan (Comment 15) : Thanks!
@vanmartin (Comment 16) : I’m sure most countries would want him for 7s