It has been revealed that Patrick Lambie could still take part in this years Super Rugby. In an article in the Mercury this morning Mike Greenaway writes that Pat Lambie could still make a comeback before the play-offs in July.
Lambie was injured in the Sharks’ 5th round match against the Bulls with his halfback partner Cobus Reinach. Early reports indicated that both players would be out for around 4 to 6 weeks, but it was later confirmed that Lambie had torn his bicep muscle and would be out for around 6 months. With more injuries hitting the Sharks over the weekend the News from Jake White that Lambie could be available for the final two league matches, as well as the play-offs, was welcome news.
“We could have four or five games with Patrick back (depending on how the Sharks fare in the play-offs), so that is good news indeed,” White said yesterday. “It was a massive loss when he got injured so early in the season because so much of our game plan was invested in him making the calls, and that was going to be a big help with there being a new captain (Bismarck du Plessis).”
Meanwhile Tonderai Chavhanga has been added to the mounting injury list. Chavanga limped off just before half-time against the Cheetahs with a hamstring injury, that could keep him out for up to 4 weeks. JP Pietersen, Paul Jordaan and Fred Zeilinga are all sidelined with the same injury and will not be available for this weeks match against the Highlanders. Fortunately White indicated that Odwa Ndugane could be ready for this weekends game, which will be a welcome addition to an inexperienced Sharks backline. Frans Steyn seems to be the last man standing and with him looking in agony after every kick he takes, one wonders how long that will be the case. But White says Steyn is fine. “He needs a break but he will be fine for this week, especially when we have a lot of guys that are 50-50. Frans understands that he has to bide his time until we get guys back. Frans is very important to the team, especially with a new 10 (in Swiel). He knows that.”
The Sharks are also still waiting for the return of Cobus Reinach, Tera Mtembu and Anton Bresler, with Pieter Steph du Toit unfortunately still out for the rest of the season. With injuries mounting and only one game to go before the tour, White seems tempted to rest a few of his players, but feels that this would not be the right game. “It is so important to get on the plane on a winning note. “We have a short week, a five-day turnaround from the Cheetahs match, so to make five or six changes because the players need it physically could be the wrong thing for this week because it will disrupt our rhythm. “It is a home game, and a game against a team fresh after their bye. So I’m not sure it’s the right time to rest,” White said.
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Shew talk about in the nick of time.just hope they don’t bring him in before he’s fully recovered.
That’s a huge turn around for Lambie, how do you go from 6 months to 2 months? Not that I am complaining!
@Seth101 (Comment 2) :
I suppose the bicep tear wasn’t as bad as they initially thought and after surgery this was confirmed. The initial report is just bicep tear. The grade of the tear probably determines how long you’ll be out.
Whatever may be the reason, this just made my week.
This is excellent news.
Bummer about Chavhanga. Was hoping the comeback would last more than half an hour this time around…
@Seth101 (Comment 2) :
And March to July isn’t 2 months. It’s about 4 months.
Overwhelming injury report, massive task ahead of us! The only solace we can really take is to hope the success rate of our current gameplan will hold true. Tough times.
@robdylan (Comment 4) :
And he actually looked pretty good in that half an hour.
Worried about steyn.he should be rested even if the team needs him or we risk losing him to a long term injury as well. We need to back williams that is why he is there.
@Poisy (Comment 8) : Agreed! But I have to concede that it’s unfortunately much easier said than done.
@robdylan (Comment 4) : yes Rob it’s a pity about Chavhanga he looked hungry and full of rugby.
@Poisy (Comment 8) : If we loose Steyn now, we will be in deep trouble. I hope Fred can also make a fast recovery.
@uShaka (Comment 9) : the whole world can see he is in pain and not 100% just gives the impression we not taking care of our talent.makes me wonder how many player’s that got injured were playing injured as well for the sake of the time.no trophy is worth someones health and if you gonna rely on one player than you doomed anyway
@Poisy (Comment 8) : problem with resting Steyn now is that the whole 10, 12, 13 combo will be new to super reugby. At the moment Swiel and Sithole needs Steyn’s experience to guide them. If Pat or fred was still playing it would have not been a problem to rest Steyn.
Great news indeed 😉
@Bokhoring (Comment 11) : I dont agree. I think there is enough experience in the team to help the new guys comming in. We were raving about our depth beginning of the season and now we scared to use it.
And you just know Meyer wont even consider giving Steyn a rest, all he cares about is his win loss ratio.
I have a feeling Jake will rest some players during the games against the Brumbies and Crusaders. These are games that we will most likely struggle to win with a full complement. He will probably still target the Highlanders and Rebels for wins, and select the strongest teams available for those.
Good news indeed. Enough to put a smile on my face. Agree, we should target the Rebels and Highlanders games.
@JD (Comment 13) : its tough but that is what we need to do. Williams and sithole are great defensively so I dont think we gonna leak tries we will only suffer in the kicking department and swiel just needs to step up and live up to his hype
@JD (Comment 13) : plus Steyn is the man that is keeping the scoreboard ticking over with those long range penalties. Swiel still seems to be a ball of nerves at the moment.
Jake has a huge dilemma here. The other alternative is to wrap him in cotton wool during the practice sessions.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 18) : we should target every game we just need to change the game plan according to who we pick. Swiel starts than maybe sithole needs to be at inside centre because they are both attacking threats. Zellinga starts we play a kicking game williams at inside centre
@Poisy (Comment 12) : I agree.
Imagine if Plumtree had made the same statements ascribed to Jake White, there would have been blood in the streets.
Does this mean Lambie will be back end of May? Four or five games back, means to me he will be back for the Stormers game?
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 23) : true 🙄
@Seth101 (Comment 16) : Not even sure that F Steyn is in Meyers plans and if he does play him into the ground its no more than his “home” coach is doing anyway.
This is great news, and hopefully Fred will be back sooner, rather than later to fill the gap till then. Was not impressed with all of Tim’s aimless kicking on Saturday.
@stevovo (Comment 27) : amongst other things as well
@bokbok (Comment 24) :
No, four would be if we ended in the top 2 and didn’t have to play the quarters (plus the Cheetahs and the Stormers games), five would be if we ended up outside of the top 2 and had to play a play-off to get into the semi’s.
Tim is the future, glimpses of brilliance are there. Everyone loves an attacking flyhalf who also has the potential to become a solid kicker. Regardless the outcome this experience will certainly stand him and the Sharks in good stead.
From The Times – “I am the first to admit that our game looked stale on Saturday,” said White.
“I think it is time for change and time to get some fresh guys in. There are subtle changes that we need to make for the game against the Highlanders.
“I’ve got a short turn-around time to reflect on the new flyhalf and backline combinations this week and whether it is the right time to make changes.
“As much as a change is needed, the last thing you want to do when you’ve got only five days to prepare is to make six or seven changes. You also don’t want to give the Highlanders, a team that had a bye and arrived in SA early, a leg up with your team selections.”
This is great news, nit only for the Sharks, but for Lambie himself as well. Now to make the nr. 10 Bok jersey his! Heyneke will probably be a bit relieved as well as we were getting thin at fly-half. Any idea when Zeilinga will be back? I liked what I saw about Swiel this weekend. I can’t understand why people are calling for his head, when the only try we scored was made by a great little break from him. Sure he needs some work regarding his kicking and maybe to get the back line going, but is all issues that can be sorted out. He has great feet and some serious pace! I was wondering, do injured players give insight and advise to any players playing in their absence? For instance, would Lambie be able to give Zeilinga or Swiel some advise or insight?
@Bokhoring (Comment 20) : that is what I was thinking as well plus let Swiel take the first few kicks and only if he miss they must revert to Steyn.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 26) : Bok backs will be Du Preez, Steyn, Steyn, De Villiers
@Another Nick (Comment 32) :
Zeilinga should be ready in 2 or 3 weeks. Maybe the second game on tour. It seems with a hammy you should give the player about 4 weeks to recover, Zeilinga has been out for 1.
Swiel looked nervous, I don’t think anyone is calling for his head. He played way to deep most of the time. When he took on the line he looked potent. If Jake work with him and get him to play with more confidence, we could have a gem on our hands. He played even worse than he did against the Bulls, but I can see the potential.
I’ve seen players get involved while they are injured and giving players advice, I suppose it depends on the player/ coach and whether they want to give that advice or the player to give their input.
@JD (Comment 34) :
No doubt.
Probably – Du Preez, Steyn, De Villiers, Steyn
@JD (Comment 34) :
Habana, JPP, Willie/Kirschner
I don’t see Heyneke making any changes, if he can help it.
@Maria Delport (Comment 36) : You don’t think he will use Frans at 12 and JDV at 13?
@Maria Delport (Comment 35) : Thank you, thought as much. Though I doubt JW will ask Lambie to leave if he attends practice sessions to give some input etc.
Agreed about Swiel. I say we give him a couple more games for JW to work with him and he will be gold. Just in time when Zeiling returns to fight out the Nr. 10 spot. I reckon the moment we can fully depend on Swiel’s boot to convert penalties to points, we can give Frans a rest. Heimar is experienced enough to do at least 60-odd min before Frans sees out the last 20.
@Bokhoring (Comment 38) :
Yes, my mistake, so – Du Preez, Steyn, Steyn, de Villiers.
I think Steynjie is a little slow for 13, Jean, although better at 12, has been successful at 13 before.
@Maria Delport (Comment 36) : think Steyn will play 12 and De Villiers 13
@JD (Comment 34) : @Maria Delport (Comment 36) : @Maria Delport (Comment 37) : Time will tell, Im not so sure that F Steyn is penned in as a starter for HM. On form alone he surely deserves to be.
@Maria Delport (Comment 35) : Swiel will need time to settle, at times on Saturday he showed what he’s all about and that looked really good. Let’s see this weekend how he goes.
@Maria Delport (Comment 35) : Regarding Swiel, there is clearly a lot of talent there, I get the impression that he is very eager to please and missing those sitters didnt help and he therefore was trying to do the individual brilliance thing, basically overcompensating for his errors.one thing is for sure that the day when everything goes right for him will be a treat for all, except his opponents.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 42) : I can not see how any coach can leave out a player like Frans. Even HM, whom I don’t always rate that high, must be able to see this. There is no way that you can leave out a player of Steyn’s caliber to get splinters on the bench.
@JD (Comment 43) : @Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 44) :
I feel like he is on the verge of breaking through. With Steyn there to guide him for at least one more game, I feel like we’ll see something special from him this weekend. Just a feeling.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 42) : Sal, why do you say so? Meyer was the guy who lured Frans back to SA.
@Maria Delport (Comment 46) : that’s te feeling I’ve got as well. All he needs is a little bit of time.
@vanmartin (Comment 47) : Im going purely on the team he finished the year off with last year, hasn’t he got the policy of playing the incumbents and the others biding their time until a place becomes available. I also feel that addittional to possibly having to deal with JJ Engelbrecht, Jan Serfontein and Jacque Fourie a place will be sought for Damian de Allende.
As for me, the first name I would pen on the team sheet would be F.Steyn
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 49) : I wouldn’t read that much into end of year tour selections. Meyer stated that he want to develop depth and knew what he had in Frans. I’m also of the opinion that he considers Frans an incumbent meaning Jan Serfontein or whoever else he picks would be second in line. Meyer (similar to Jake) likes a lot of experience in his side.
@Maria Delport (Comment 35) : agreed. Swiel has the talent, he needs to be guided on his kicking game. He kicked the ball into opposition is stead of space in both his games and it put us under pressure. His missed kicks at goal are forgotten because we won and his running was great.
@vanmartin (Comment 50) : Lets hope you are right and lets hope that we dont come back from overseas with a totally knackered and broken Steyn.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 52) : Agreed
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 52) : i think that’s what most Sharks supporters are worried about. Once Fred is back Steyn should be rested even if it meens that he’s played off the bench.
That is just brilliant news about Pat! I hope it all works out that way…the timing would be perfect! Injuries are really starting to bite…although our depth is still serving us very well. Although I agree that Frans needs a break, right at this moment I just don’t know whether we can afford it. The experience thing is a big argument. I like Heimar…but that would make for an awfully inexperienced backline! To be fair…I don’t have all the info…and neither do most of the rest of us…and I just trust Jake. Keep going boys…
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 49) : He ditched JJ very quickly as soon as Jacques Fourie was available. I think Frans will be in the pecking order above JJ and Serfontein.
@Bokhoring (Comment 56) : his centre combo will be Frans, de Villiers and Fourie, two on the field and one on the bench