They were humiliated against the Free State Cheetahs on home territory a fortnight ago, but Deon Kayser’s Sharks under 21 side will go into this weekend’s match against the Leopards hell bent on picking up a win – and hopefully moving away from the bottom of the tournament log.
It’s not been a memorable campaign, with the side’s only win coming against these Leopards at Kings Park in round 1. Since then, there have been four bad losses in a row and the side needs to arrest that slide, or risk the embarrassment of being the first Sharks under 21 side in many a year to miss out on the competition play-offs.
Backline changes this week see Legend Marwana move to outside centre (he played 12 last week after Gareth Meikle cried off) with Neil Maritz starting alongside him. Sipho Mkhize moves up from the bench to start at left wing, swapping places with Alrin Eksteen. Brendan Cope, one of the few to impress against Free State, is retained at flyhalf, alongside Hanco Venter, who returns from senior duty.
It’s all change up front too, with Louis Hazelhurst coming in for his first start at number 8, while Buzwe Mpotulo takes over from Barend Potgieter at open side flank. In a rather bizarre move, Potgieter replaces Matt Jones at loosehead prop this week. The tight five is otherwise unchanged, with hooker Jacques Taylor again the skipper.
Cell C Sharks Under 21s: 15. Tim Swiel, 14. Alcino Izaacs, 13. Nkululeko Marwana , 12. Neil Maritz, 11. Sipho Mkize, 10. Brendan Cope, 9. Hanco Venter, 8. Louis Hazelhurst, 7. Andre Esterhuizen, 6. Buzwe Mpotulo, 5. Sias Koen, 4. David “Danger” Fisher, 3. Bart le Roux, 2. Jacques Taylor (Captain) , 1. Barend Potgieter
Replacements: 16. Roan Dalzell, 17. Brandon Landsberg, 18. Ferdie Horn, 19. Jean Pretorius, 20. Dylan Marcus, 21. Sandile Kubeka, 22. Alrin Eksteen
Tweet
OMW! A talented “Senior” inside centre at 7 and an openside flank at tighthead…….one then wonders why the log should be anything but flattering.
@JustPlainSHARK (Comment 1) : I agree!
Last weekend Swiel was really disappointing.
Friends of mine played in the same 1st side as him and they mentioned that he didn’t really like the bottom of a ruck. Perhaps he doesn’t have the mettle.
What time are these guys playing and is it being televised?
Ja well yes…… lets see what happens?!?!?!?!
Is Koegies injured?
@Talent (Comment 3) : He’s very scared on defense….remember the two SR games he played….embarrassing, I don’t think he has the courage for professional rugby.
Lets see if Esterhuizen can last longer than 5min so we can see how he actually goes at flank. And a flank to prop…is the guy a bit chunky? haha Swiel seriously needs to up his game- he looked a lot better at WP- but maybe he was given a better platform to run from?
Rob, I think it was you who mentioned Esterhuisen had a bad attitude?
What have you heard in this regard?
And I thought you were taking the piss about the flank / prop position swap in the under 19 thread. 😆
@JD (Comment 6) : in modern programming languages, this is a new construct you can use.
Instead of
while (true) {
}
you can use
while (koegies.isInjured()) {
}
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 10) : nope.
@John Galt (Comment 9) : I can’t share all of what I’ve heard, because it may not be completely true.
I have heard that the kid’s core skills aren’t coming along as they should as a centre and that the DoR feels he doesn’t have a future in that position as a result. Certainly, the DoR isn’t going to pick him for a senior side again in that position. Also heard that he is difficult to work with and has a penchant for the night life.
I’m not sure if all of it is true, but even if only some of it is true, it doesn’t paint a good picture.
@SheldonK (Comment 8) : it’s so hard to tell how big these guys are, because nobody keeps (or shares) accurate stats.
@robdylan (Comment 14) : Yeh that is true. At that level flanks to prop isnt as big a move as some think, especially if the guy has some size and strength. Remember at school boy level they dont really scrum much anymore. Its literally an engage and mayb a 3sec push then ball is out and play continues.
@robdylan (Comment 11) : 😎
EDIT: You shouldn’t be teaching anyone how to write an endless loop though… 😉
but anyway, regarding Potgieter….. it seems that he is considered to be very strong and since the new scrum laws favour strength, they think it might be worth a try playing him there. Apparently something that’s been under consideration for over a year.
@vanmartin (Comment 16) : oops 🙂
What the F are these idiots doing messing up a talented centres career playing him at 7……..that should be grounds for a sacking in itself…….why on earth has White not stepped in and put a stop to this sh1t
@Saffex (Comment 19) : White is the one who suggested it
@robdylan (Comment 13) :
Thanks
Wow he is losing the plot in more ways than one.
The Sharks have a habit of this……Burden was a great centre until Muir got his hands on him.
Best thing for Esterhuizen to do is leave the Sharks NOW
@Saffex (Comment 22) : Burden is doing very good in France so maybe using him as an eexample is not really doing your point any good.
@robdylan (Comment 11) : ok thanx I got the message 😉
@Saffex (Comment 22) : Burden was a wing.
Leopards U21 41 – 55 Sharks U21
Leopards U19 17 – 24 Sharks U19
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 25) : he was a centre that sometimes played wing.
@vanmartin (Comment 27) : glad to see the juniors winning again.
Wonder how our inside-flank/blindside-center performed…..
….also wonder how our openside-prop (or blindside-prop, not too sure) went.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 30) : Esterhuizen scored a try according to SA rugby.
@Here be dragons (Comment 31) : but he’d moved back to centre by that stage, apparently
@robdylan (Comment 32) : Rob would it be pushing it a bit if you were to include the ratings of the junior sides so that we can see who is deserving of promotion based on perfomances ❓
@Chippa (Comment 33) : I can’t bud – I can’t watch the games so I can’t rate the players.
@robdylan (Comment 32) : Hopefully it means the experiment is not going to be repeated?
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 25) : No he was not, he played 13
@JD (Comment 23) : Doing well in France means stuff all. He is a handy enough hooker but looked an awesome 13 as a youngster.
Had the injury and Dick decided he was too slow for centre and within a year of recovering from his injury he showed that he had lost none of his pace.
He was wasted at hooker at a time we had no depth at 13.
The Esterhuizen call looks as stupid. He showed in his game against Sarries and in the JWC that he was a real handful at centre…..now all of a sudden he does not have the core skills…….what rubbish.
I hope he moves from the Sharks asap before they stuff up his career
@Saffex (Comment 36) : He played 13 at school and earned a single cap at wing for the Sharks.
[email protected]vanmartin (Comment 38) : He played 13 for the Sharks U21’s that’s where I saw him first
There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of patience in supply…please don’t get me wrong, I am also concerned about some things at the Sharks…but sjoe! Let’s pick a different example of a positional switch that worked brilliantly: Beast moving from flank to prop! Surely no one can say that didn’t work…but jeepers did it take time! The first three or four seasons he was crunched at scrum time…but he learnt his trade over time and it ended up being a masterstroke. I too would like to see Esterhuizen get a shot at 12 in the CC, but don’t judge a move to 7 based on 50-60 mins!! Personally, I’m going to try and hold my mouth and see exactly what develops…and then we can reflect on success when we have a bit more info to reflect on…