Let’s do a little run-down of the Sharks match 22 named to play the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday evening.
The introduction of Fred Zeilinga to start has reduced the average age of the starting fifteen quite considerably – although you could argue that Odwa Ndungane’s omission this week has also had an effect. The starting team averages just a shade over 26 years of age, with the average over the entire 22 not much different. Fred Zeilinga (20) still the youngest and Butch James (34 and some change) the oldest. Jacques Botes, Marco Wentzel and Charl McLeod are the other 30-plus players in the squad.
The pack that starts the match averages 1.87m in height and 109.4 kg in weight – these numbers a little down on last week, with the smaller Keegan Daniel replacing Brynard Stander. 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 838 Currie Cup caps, at an average of just over 38 per man – Daniel’s inclusion here has made a big difference to the total. Botes (138) has the most caps overall ahead of Daniel (93) and Ludik (80, including 43 for the Lions). There are no uncapped players in the match 22, although Fred Zeilinga will make his first Currie Cup start. Sizo Maseko and Heimar Williams are the least experienced men in the squad, each earning only their second cap this week. Butch James, with 401 points for the Sharks, is the top points scorer historically, with Botes (200 points via 40 tries) and Daniel (155 points from 31 tries) coming in next. The team as a whole have scored an aggregate 1126 points for the Sharks in Currie Cup rugby.
Five of the match 22 were schooled in KZN, with Maritzburg College and Glenwood each boasting two members. Other schools to be twice-represented are Outeniqua (Wentzel and van Tonder), Dale College (Daniel and Mtembu) 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 | 27 | 0 | 27 | 10 |
| 2 | Cooper | Kyle Lorran | 1.78 | 109 | 24 | Glenwood | 27 | 0 | 27 | 5 |
| 3 | Herbst | Wiehahn Jovan | 1.80 | 113 | 25 | Klerksdorp | 42 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| 4 | Hewitt | Edwin Westley | 1.96 | 117 | 25 | AHS | 2 | 12 | 14 | 0 |
| 5 | Wentzel | Marco van Zyl | 2.00 | 117 | 34 | Outeniqua | 2 | 35 | 37 | 0 |
| 6 | Daniel | Keegan Rhys | 1.88 | 97 | 28 | Dale | 93 | 0 | 93 | 155 |
| 7 | Deysel | Jean Roy | 1.91 | 112 | 28 | Hentie Cilliers | 53 | 0 | 53 | 30 |
| 8 | Botes | Louis Jacques | 1.82 | 97 | 32 | Potch Gim | 111 | 27 | 138 | 200 |
| 9 | McLeod | Charl | 1.80 | 88 | 30 | Wonderboom | 48 | 9 | 57 | 45 |
| 10 | Zeilinga | Frederik Johannes | 1.75 | 82 | 20 | Glenwood | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 11 | Mvovo | Lwazi Ncedo | 1.85 | 94 | 27 | Maria Louw | 46 | 0 | 46 | 105 |
| 12 | Williams | Heimar | 1.80 | 93 | 22 | AHS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Ludik | Louis | 1.83 | 92 | 26 | EG Jansen | 37 | 43 | 80 | 30 |
| 14 | Maseko | Sizophila Sabelo | 1.84 | 88 | 22 | Ermelo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | Marais | Sarel Petrus | 1.84 | 80 | 24 | Paarl Boys | 1 | 15 | 16 | 5 |
| 16 | Burden | Craig Bruce | 1.84 | 105 | 28 | MC | 67 | 0 | 67 | 115 |
| 17 | Gerber | Rayno | 1.90 | 120 | 32 | Framesby | 2 | 40 | 42 | 0 |
| 18 | Marais | Peet Celliers | 1.98 | 115 | 22 | Welkom | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 19 | Mtembu | Lubabalo Siphosethu | 1.87 | 103 | 22 | Dale | 8 | 0 | 8 | 5 |
| 20 | Reinach | Jacobus Meyer | 1.75 | 84 | 23 | Grey Kollege | 16 | 0 | 16 | 10 |
| 21 | James | Andrew David | 1.84 | 98 | 34 | MC | 47 | 14 | 61 | 401 |
| 22 | van Tonder | Jaco | 1.86 | 96 | 22 | Outeniqua | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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Hoping for a good win for the sharks and some good attacking rugby
“200 points via 41 tries”
200/5=40
41*5=205
😕 😕
Die Kriek maybe he scored a couple when tries only counted 4 points.
@Die Kriek (Comment 2) : sorry, typo… 40 tries. Fixed now
Not too much home-grown talent in there…
@VinChainSaw (Comment 5) : Yep, they are all busy shoring up the WP scrum and helping WP get the average weight of their back line above the 65kg mark.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 6) : Lmao
@VinChainSaw (Comment 5) : Seems to me the vast majority are players that have come through the Sharks academy. IMO that makes them “home-grown” regardless of where they went to school/born. 🙂 Not including the natural born Sharks like Butch, Botes, Deysel, & McLoed who been around since 2008 or before. Or the guys who’ve come up from the u19 sharks like Jaco and Heimar.
Lol. Apologists…
Its a bloody disgrace that a region as historically strong as PMB is delivering so few players in the senior ranks.
Not even talking about the Sharks that are playing for the Boks like the du Plessis brother, PSDT, Beast et al.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 6) :
Lol. Barely my man. Pat Cilliers maybe, Rhodes will be back on the bench once the Boks are back.
Still, if you want to compare a side with two imports to one with 10, then good luck to ya!