Tim Whitehead and Hansie Graaff will turn out for the newly-promoted EP Kings in this year’s Currie Cup.
Centre Whitehead, who moved to the Sharks in 2011 after a frustrating early career at Western Province, has found his path into the senior side blocked by injury. A favourite of former coach John Plumtree, who would always pick Whitehead when fit, he has not had quite the same impact under either Brendan Venter or Jake White, missing out on selection to the Sharks 2014 Super Rugby squad. A subsequent knee injury has put paid to any participation in any event.
Graff was brought in to add depth ahead of the 2013 Currie Cup campaign, but like Whitehead, missed that entire competition due to injury. He has picked up a few caps for the Sharks XV this year, but will not be retained in Durban after the end of his short contract, given the number of young players coming through the system.
The Kings have also signed hooker Michael van Vuuren, a former Baby Bok who has been with Stade Francais in Paris for the last two seasons.
Tweet
Good luck to Tim at the Kings.
I still rate him and really enjoyed when he and Jordaan teamed up for an exciting centre pairing, which finally brought some danger to the sharks backline. Alas, it was not meant to be, and hope he can make an impact with the Kings.
@stevovo (Comment 1) : This. You go Tim! And best of luck to Hansie who I don’t think I ever got to see play.
Good luck to both.
However still say Tim is one of the best creative centres we have had in a very very long time. He will be sadly missed for sure.
Ja it’s a pity that not all of the player can stay with the Sharks. Good luck Tim hope the injuries gets better and you can play the whole Currie cup!!!
Good players. They will add more value to the Kings than at the Sharks
Sad to see Tim go, as I really rate him. All the best as a King, Tim.
Massive fk up by the Sharks to leat TW go.
Particularly with our lack of experienced depth at 13 and 12.
First of many to go I reckon. Mcleod, TW, Deysel, Keegan…watch this space.
If rumblings are to be believed, not everyone is happy with Jake and his ways.
TW is a loss for us. But I understand he doesn t wanna play second fiddle to Frans.
What happens in the currie cup though?
Hopefully this Esterhuizen oke comes good…
15. Lwazi Mvovo
14. Odwa Ndungane
13. S’bura Sithole
12. Frans Steyn
11. JP Pietersen
10. Fred Zeilinga
9. Charl McLeod
8. Ryan Kankowski
7. Jean Deysel
6. Marcell Coetzee
5. Stephan Lewies
4. Willem Alberts
3. Jannie du Plessis
2. Bismarck du Plessis (Captain)
1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements
16. Kyle Cooper
17. Dale Chadwick
18. Lourens Adriaanse
19. Etienne Oosthuizen br> 20. Keegan Daniel
21. Stefan Ungerer
22. Heimar Williams
23. SP Marais
Lwazi at 15 😯 ,why not Odwa or JP?
Lwazi at fullback? Can that be right?
Keegan on the bench 😛
@Talent (Comment 10) : @Son Of Mayhem (Comment 11) : That’s some out of the box thinking should it prove correct. 🙂
@Son Of Mayhem (Comment 11) : Checked the Sharks website. It’s definitely correct. When was Bresler injured? Missed that one.
I’m not sure if Jake is great or confused. Guess we’ll see on the weekend. I do think Odwa or JP would be better options at 15 if he really had to drop SP. At the same time, I think Mvovo would do good with some more space. But why play him out of position when we have two guys that has experience in that position already. This could work out for Jake if Mvovo has a blinder, attacking the space he has from 15 and not kicking the ball away or being out of position. Hmmm, now I’m confused. 😐
I know its on the Sharks site like that, just dont think its right. They have made a mistake before.
@Son Of Mayhem (Comment 16) : Maybe Rob is querying it as we speak, as he hasn’t started the team announcement thread yet 😀
Don’t forget players can always swap positions on attack and defence. Odwa to defend, Mvovo to attack. The black line to win us the game :D.
@Seth101 (Comment 18) : I would love to see our forwards dominate like we know they can. Also, I think Keegan should be put on in the last 20min when the game starts to get loose. Lets just hope he’s fit and on form, has he been playing Vodacom Cup ?
@Quintin (Comment 19) : He played one game I believe. And scored.
@John Galt (Comment 7) : Ja, but that happens at every union when a new coach comes in. It’s not like it’s unusual or anything.
Bad bad loss. But, and I said it to Rob. Cant understand boys “downgrading”. FFS its a long season. Zeinlinga just got his call up, because of injury to Pat and well deservedly so. Dont these boys have ANY sense of whats happening? Is it really ALL about rands or so called “playing time”…how much you gona get at the Kings at the moment? (Playtime)