NWU Pukke – coached by former College Rovers head coach and Natal scrumhalf Robert du Preez – prevailed to the tune of 42-29 over a young Sharks XV outfit at the Peter Booysen stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Friday evening.
It will have been a rather bittersweet affair for du Preez senior, since the man wearing number 8 for the opposition was none other than his own son, Daniel. There will be some consolation in the fact that the 20-year-old loose forward is reported to have had a superb game. A loss at this stage of the season against an experienced PUK outfit is unlikely to cause Sharks XV head coach Ryan Strudwick too many sleepless nights though, given that he was without any of the experienced Super Rugby squad members that are expected to bolster his selection once the Vodacom Cup competition proper gets underway.
The Sharks XV selection that took the field on Friday comprised only players from Strudwick’s “Grey Squad” – the talented (yet raw) group of contracted youngsters who are not yet in Super Rugby contention.
In the later game, a UKZN Impi selection went down against College Rovers by 5-20 in an unstructured set of “chukkas” aimed at getting a little bit of match fitness under the respective players’ belts.
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oh dear the impi 🙄
dammit if I knew I would have been there…..
Glad to see that the communication channels between the Sharks and Robert du Preez are open. Id like to see him and his 3 boys still making contributions to the Sharks at some stage.
So Daniel had a blinder. Any chance of us loaning him to the Piukke for the VC. 😈
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 4) : why would we do that?
PUKKE!!!!!!!
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 3) :
You can do a hell of a lot worse than Robert du Preez in a coaching capacity. I think he is an excellent coach.
@robdylan (Comment 5) : @<a Just having a friendly dig at the powers that be that loaned Robert du Preez to Maties, and let WPRU give him a contract.
@Morné (Comment 6) : Yep, fully agree.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 7) : oh riiiight 🙂
Shew Pukke dispatched them. Wasnt the best Pukke side either…but guess in preseason its all bout how much the combos have played together previously. Looks like same old Impi…can see them getting on a recruitment drive again…anyone keen to ‘study’ ??
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 7) : too sharp 😆
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 4) : yes right that worked moss the last time!!!!!!!!!! 😈 Hell no we’re keeping him!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah, glad to see Strudders getting ahead in the world. He’s a good man…
Good to hear that Dan had a good game…
@pastorshark (Comment 13) : yeah – he’s going places. Full-time head of junior rugby
@robdylan (Comment 15) : Good stuff. He’s originally from our neck of the woods…we went to school together…he was my rugby captain when he was in matric…I remember watching him play for the Sharks against the British Lions in ’97…and then obviously he did very, very well in the UK! Good to have him here…maybe I should make a plan to interview him for the site…
@pastorshark (Comment 16) : yeah, do it! I asked him about you – he says you’re a good oke 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 17) : nice guy!!! I’m sure he says that of everyone. 😉 hahaha kidding would like to see the interview.
@robdylan (Comment 17) : Well, that’s a relief…at least someone says that about me!!