The Sharks have included fit-again Beast Mtawarira at loosehead prop in the only change to their starting lineup for Friday morning’s final tour match against the Reds in Brisbane.
The big Bok was named to start against the Waratahs last week, but was withdrawn at the last minute, prompting a reshuffle. With his return to the side, Dale Chadwick drops to the bench, with Matt Stevens falling out.
Willem Alberts, a late inclusion last week, starts again this week, meaning Etienne Oosthuizen again benches. Mouritz Botha replaces Giant Mtayanda as the lock reserve.
Sharks 15: Lwazi Mvovo, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 S’bura Sithole, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Subs: 16. Franco Marais, 17. Dale Chadwick, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Mouritz Botha, 20. Etienne Oosthuizen, 21. Conrad Hoffmann, 22. Fred Zeilinga, 23. Andre Esterhuizen

YAY! No Matt Stevens! Don’t know why they ever recruited him!
Hopefully the continuity will mean the team performs better on especially defensive alignment.
Damn these Friday morning games. I actually have a pretty good feeling about this one and I’m gonna miss it.
Well it’s looking better continuity wise! Now to find a live stream site seeing as DSTV schnaaied us non PVR people in that regard. Go Sharks!
@Dragnipur (Comment 4) : Same here bud.. so either I find a site, OR come tomorrow morning I will be overcome with a sudden contagious disease that will FORCE me to stay at home.. 😉
I’ll post a link Friday morning if I find one!
I’ll be on leave for my kids’ midterm break…so I get to watch!
Happy about the continuity…come on men!!!
@Dragnipur (Comment 6) : 😛 Cheers!
Go Sharks!!
Good news to have Beast back. Let’s hope we defend muuuucccchhh better and sneak a win – would start the weekend off brilliantly
#GoSHARKS
BEEEEAAAAAASSSSTTT!!
Lol glad to see everyone pumped up. Super glad to see no matt stevens lol. Now let’s see if we can grab one back to stick it to the damn refs and TMOs who robbed us. In other news, I hear alberts signed with stade de france, any truth to that? Lol and the dup brothers again linked to a french club, jakes this time.
Lol nvm my comment on alberts, I see the topic has been exhausted in the PSDT thread.
@Another Nick (Comment 9) : You could always VIP Box or cricfreetv
@Another Nick (Comment 5) : @Dragnipur (Comment 6) : Here’s the site I use. http://www.vipbox.tv
@durbsguy (Comment 15) : Beat me to it. 😉
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 11) : Defend much better? We defended extraordinarily well against the Waratahs. Or that’s what Gary Gold said. 🙄
So when Willie leaves we will look around for a replacement? I thinks we should get Bothma to stay and take that place get du preez ready for the nr 8 jersey.
Well most of the team defended much better. I just don’t know about JP he still hasn’t come to the party.
Why is JP at 13 again is Gary blind ??? or plain stupid . Swap sithole and JP !!! think I should go spam john smit twitter about this
@Ben (Comment 16) : he best one is Kostatz rugby
Kan ons asb!!!!!!! Tog nou die een wen – ek kan regtig nou nie meer die verloor, verloor, verloor vat nie – kom nou asb. Sharks gee ons iets om op trots te wees – GO SHARKS!!!!!
Wanneer laas het Sharks nie een toer wedstryd oorsee gewen nie?
@coolfusion (Comment 20) : We did miss 30-something tackles though…hmmm…
@john van eeden (Comment 21) : The last two weeks Sburra has looked really good!
Yes he has been looking good but him at 13 will be awesome !!! but gary think JP is awesome (and he is NOT AT ALL)
@john van eeden (Comment 27) : That is a bit perplexing…
@durbsguy (Comment 22) : I will give it a try. Thanks!
@pastorshark (Comment 25) : I said better, not great. I’m not expecting a day and night turnaround in a match or two. But I am looking at consistent improvent. If we continue improving we should see some good form by the 3rd or 4th game in cc. Depending of course on what rwc does to our continuity.
@durbsguy (Comment 15) : @Ben (Comment 16) : Thanks guys! Looking forward to my very important “skype meeting” tomorrow.. Do not disturb! 😉 😀
@Dragnipur (Comment 4) : If you’re a DStv subscriber you can live stream from supersport.com
@Pokkel (Comment 32) : And only if you’re in SA.
@Pokkel (Comment 32) : They changed it to only PVR subscribers. I have plain old DSTV. Will try that streaming site tomorrow.
@Dragnipur (Comment 34) : DSTV is my biggest monthly grudge (HATE) buy. I dont like them at all.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 35) : The only thing they are good for is Supersport.
@Ben (Comment 36) : True, and they hold a whole nation of rugby lovers to ransom with supersport channel / bouget. Blood suckers.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 37) : What sport channels does it have and how much does it cost?
@Ben (Comment 38) : I’m guessing channel 200 and 204.
But I must say I enjoyed Homicide Hunter on the CI channel while I was there.
@Ben (Comment 38) : R600.00 + per month. Not sure how many but at least 7 of which most are for football. Themain channel (201) shows live and re runs of rugby and lots of golf. 202 shows cricket. One can normally scratch up something watchable if really bored. I saw this crazy thing on CI this morning where a trespassing hunter just mowed down 7 other hunters who happened to point him off their land. Americans should stick to 7s rugby and leave the guns at their local supermarkets.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 41) : Haha, yeah I know the channels. Seems like we weren’t on the same page there. Thought you were talking about something like DSTV Compact where you pay R320 a month and the only sport channels you get are SS Blitz, SS3, SS4, SS9 and SS Select. It’s okay if you’re a football fan only but rugby lovers are forced to pay the premium price to be able to view rugby.
The source of the trouble is in the 2nd amendment:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
And that’s the whole damn thing. The gun nuts focus on.”.. the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” and the anti gun nuts prefer…”A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State….”
At least they’re not shooting at each other, yet.
Meanwhile the criminals, bikers, hunters, PSTD sufferers and assorted nut cases are causing mayhem enough.
Just this week I was visiting a small rural town. The place should be as safe and idyllic as can be, but instead everyone owns troves of guns they keep at the ready for defence against imaginary threats,……. such as the old man with alzheimer’s shot recently for acting “strange” whilst wandering onto the wrong piece of land.
@fyndraai (Comment 43) : You can’t look at the amendment by itself without the supreme court rulings regarding the amendment. You are referring to the collective rights versus individual rights issue. The collective rights people say that the states have the right to regulate and ban firearms without constitutional violation, the individual rights people say each individual has the right to have firearms. There are two significant supreme court hearings, one in 1939 (USA vs Miller) where the court found that congress could regulate a sawed off shotgun in interstate commerce, taking a collective rights stand. In 2008 (District of Columbia vs Heller) the court ruled that the Washington DC handgun ban was unconstitutional. The majority wrote that in US vs Miller there was an exceptional circumstance and that it did not in any way infringe on individual rights to have firearms. This is the most recent ruling and hence law of the land in the USA, and that is individuals do indeed have the right to have firearms; until the Supreme Court rules differently.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 44) : They have also ruled that preventing certain groups of people from possessing guns, like convicted felons and minors, is constitutional.
https://youtu.be/AwGXeebYcI8
Livestream on youtube of bulls game and sharks game.
@Dragnipur (Comment 46) : So how much data (gigs) does such a live stream eat? Lol
The Bulls have got off to a brilliant start. Pollard just missed his second kick, but it is still 3-15 to the Bulls after 19 mins…
The Chief are making a lot of very silly mistakes, though, almost all leading directly to points…
The Bulls steal a lineout from the Chiefs!
Chiefs now on the Bulls line…and score…
@pastorshark (Comment 48) : Trust the Bulls to mess up Superbru picks on a Friday morning lol
There was a moment there that kind of proves a bugbear of mine…Serfontein was shoulder charged after passing the ball…the ref didn’t see it…and the hometown producer chose not to show a replay of it, despite Serfontein requiring treatment. Maybe I’m cynical, but I think the producer chose not to show it because he didn’t want the ref to change his decision. They really need to address what a ref ends up deciding due to what a hometown producer decides to show or not to show!!
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 52) : It would definitely mess up my pick!
10-15 after 27 mins…
Wow…what a passage of play…ending in a Chiefs try!
@pastorshark (Comment 53) : Well that’s NZ for you. The new super rugby slogan should be: Super Rugby – Shafting the SA teams since inception 😈
If it was a Sharks player he would have gotten red no question lol.
@pastorshark (Comment 54) : Would be a huge upset on Superbru lol
Four turnovers back and forth…and great running by the Chiefs leads to a Heem try in the corner…the conversion is a shocker and it is 15-15 after 29 minutes…
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 57) : I just think fundamentally they have to better define the role the big screen can play in decision making!!
Bulls almost steal another lineout…
@pastorshark (Comment 60) : True, and bring back the neutral refs
Another great break by Pulu, but he catches a speed wobble and his pass is inacccurate…
Wonderful kick by Paige…and the pressure put on the Chiefs lineout leads to a pretty silly quick throw…the Bulls attack but the Chiefs are saved by a breakdown penalty…
Entertaining half of rugby though…5 mins to go to halftime…
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 62) : I second that motion!
The Chiefs just make some brilliant linebreaks!! Sjoe…
15-15 after 36 minutes…
Good lineout by the Chiefs this time…the Bulls don’t keep the distance open in the lineouts…anyway, the Chiefs on attack now…
Oh wow, McKenzie almost got away down the touchline!
The Bulls exit effectively from their 22…
Good variation by the Chiefs, but ultimately the Bulls get it…
Running attacking rugby by the sounds of things – hope the Sharks can deliver the same later
The hooter goes but the Chiefs still run it…
Ultimately the Bulls win a penalty and kick it out for halftime…
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 73) : A lot of running, plenty of counterattacking…
15-15 is a fair reflection at halftime…for the first 20 minutes the Bulls were the better side…in the second 20 minutes the Chiefs were the better side…
2 tries each…
Stats pretty even…
Should be a cracking second half…
Half time comments: Great game, even stevens, high skill factor…
Here we go…
53% possession and 54% territory for the Chiefs…quite even…but the Bulls have already missed 11 tackles!
Pollard kicks the kickoff out just over his 22…but the Bulls AGAIN steal the lineout…
For the first time in the game the Bulls set up the maul off the lineout…but get penalised…the Chiefs didn’t engage => obstruction…
McKenzie will take a shot…and pushes it wide…
Go Chiefs! 😈
So still 15-15 as the Chiefs do more running…
The Bulls turn it over but a pointless kick by Pollard gives the Chiefs another crack…
The Bulls turn it over again…but this time they knock it…and the Chiefs go again…
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 47) : I’m at work so it’s uncapped!
After several phases the Chiefs now knock it…
A bit of a scrappy start to the second half…
@Dragnipur (Comment 90) : Lucky you lol.
The Bulls turn ANOTHER one over…now they have a go…and knock it on too…
Just a note: Jesse Kriel went of early with a muscle/leg injury…
Great gather of a Chiefs chip by Pollard…
This time the Chiefs win a turnover and then the Bulls are penalised…
Now the chiefs maul it up into the 22…
The Bulls are pinged for collapsing it…
The Chiefs choose the scrum 20 metres out… 😯
Serfontein (who scored again today) replaced by Odendaal…
The Chiefs attack hard and Pulu scores…what a try!
@pastorshark (Comment 102) : MOOI!!!!
The conversion is good and it is 22-15 after 54 minutes…
The Chiefs score another great try by Pulu!
A wonderful break by McKenzie!!
The conversion is good and it is now 29-15 after 57 minutes…
That was the bonus point try too…
26 unanswered points by the Chiefs!
Great hands by the Chiefs! They lose it and then regain it after a stray pass by the Bulls…
The Bulls have offered nothing in the second half…and the Chiefs are playing at a hugely impressive tempo!
The Bulls finally win a penalty and will chase this one down into the Chiefs 22…
There are still 18 minutes left…
Aaaaand the signal is gone…
Dou…break in transmission with the Bulls 5m out…
Still no signal…
There we go…picture back…Bulls still 5m out…
Chiefs get a warning…
The Bulls kick it out…lineout 5 out…
Oh dear…the Bulls knock it at the maul…
Jeepers the Chiefs have got depth!!
The Chiefs run it from 5m from their own line and just an ankle tap saves the Bulls!!
Great break by Burger Odendaal…but ultimately the Bulls get bundled into touch…
Jeepers Pulu has been good…just seeing his highlights reel now!
Wow, that was a pointless kick by Potgieter!
Sam Cane has been yellow carded…the Bulls put it out 8m out…
The Bulls can’t set the maul, but the forwards pick and drive…
And the Bulls stuff it up…Spies knocks it…counterattack and then penalty Chiefs!
McKenzie is a wonderful runner!
Chiefs up into the Bulls 22…
Now the Chiefs lose the ball and the Bulls counterattack and get a penalty…
Try Bulls off the maul…
The Bulls are still in this…conversion vital! But he pulls it…
Pollard’s third miss leaves the Bulls more than a score short…29-20 with 5 minutes to play…
Oh dear…Bulls stuff up the lineout throw badly and then pointlessly kick the ball for it to be marked…
What a great kick by Ngatai…from just outside his half…and it goes out inches from the corner flag…
Chiefs score another spectacular try!!
Final score…34-20…
FT: Chiefs win 34 – 20, and lots of us off to a good start in SB