Let’s have a look at a few interesting statistics about the Sharks team named to face the Pumas in this evening’s Currie Cup opener.
– It’s a pretty young team, with the average age of the match 22 being 24.7 years (25 for the starting team). Marco Wentezel (36) is the oldest player, while the du Preez twins (20) beat Thomas du Toit to the youngest player title by a few months. In an interesting side fact, Sonja du Preez has never revealed to Jean-Luc and Daniel which of the two is the elder.
– 6 of the 22 were born in Durban, with one each in Pietermaritzburg, Kokstad and Vryheid, meaning 9 total “Natal born” players in the team. 3 were born in Cape Town and only one (Lionel Cronje) in Bloemfontein.
– Westville Boys High is the most-represented school, with 3 players (all starting in the pack). Kearsney College, Queens College and Paarl Boys High have 2 each. Joe Pietersen is the sole Grey College alumnus in the team.
– The average height of the 22 is 1.87m (the starting team has the same average). Marco Wentzel is the tallest player at 2.01m, while Monde Hadebe (1.77m) just pips Michael Claassens (1.78m) as the shortest. Andre Esterhuizen (1.94m) is the tallest back, the same height as Jean-Luc du Preez and Philip van der Walt.
– The average weight of the 22 is 104.9kg, with the starting pack totalling 896kg at an average of 112kg per man. Thomas du Toit, at 130kg, is by far the heaviest man in the squad, with Etienne Oosthuizen (118kg) second. Joe Pietersen (85kg) is the lightest player.
– No fewer than 8 players in the 22 will play their first Currie Cup game for the Sharks. The du Preez twins, Stefan Ungerer, Wandile Mjekevu and Dave McDuling have no Currie Cup caps at all, while Joe Pietersen, Philip van der Walt and Michael Claassens all have caps for other provinces.
– Dale Chadwick has the most Sharks Currie Cup caps in the group (42), followed by S’bura Sithole (30). Marco Wentzel has the most Currie Cup caps overall (50), followed by Pietersen (44).
– Pietersen boasts the most Currie Cup points (244), all of those scored for other teams. Lionel Cronje has the most Sharks Currie Cup points (71), followed by S’bura Sithole (40).
– Sithole has the most Sharks Currie Cup tries (8), followed by SP Marais (6).
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Rob any idea on Andre Esterhuizen’s current weight? Wikipedia has him at 102kgs but I am sure he is heavier?
@Seth101 (Comment 1) : I have 110 but these things are seldom accurate.
@robdylan (Comment 2) : Just trying to compare to other big wings, he is not quite Lomu size, but at 110 he would be just heavy than George North. Outside of Australasia surely one of the biggest guys to run on at wing around. I am very very interested to see how he goes there. I have always been a fan of big wings.
@Seth101 (Comment 3) : Almost the exact height and weight of Savea (Andre is slightly bigger).
@Seth101 (Comment 4) : He’s nowhere near as fast as those guys though.
@Seth101 (Comment 3) : Is the Esterhuizen move perhaps not the Sharks playing a bit of catch up in terms of what New Zealand sides were doing during super rugby by playing creative players on the inside and bigger wings to finish off in tight spaces.
@robdylan (Comment 5) : I can’t find anything close to official, only one random comment saying he had a 100m time of 11,83. But you might be right, I don’t think I have ever seen him going full tilt so can’t really judge his speed.
@SheldonK (Comment 6) : Well that’s my hope. In my opinion the best way to do it.
@Seth101 (Comment 7) : it makes sense with the way defenses are structured…very little room out wide so the little guys get destroyed. Case in point- the Cheslin Kolbe speedbump vs the Highlanders
@Seth101 (Comment 1) : depends on what’s for breakfast 😈
@Seth101 (Comment 7) : hopefully we’ll see it tonight!!!!!!!!
@SheldonK (Comment 6) : Was thinking the same thing. Hope so!
All rugby players should have recorded 100m times, imo it’s just as useful a stat as height or weight.
I personally feel 100m time is of no relevance to any sportsman, besides of course, 100m sprinters.
10m-40m times far more important – it is all about how quickly you can get going and explosive speed
@Vonno13 (Comment 13) : This is also very true, but my point stands in that I feel every player should do an …m test so that they can have a quantifiable speed stat along side height and weight.
@Seth101: Ja for sure, would be cool to see their performance stats. Like Rob said earlier, Esterhuizen may be as heavy as Savea, but he is nowhere near as explosive – he simply does not have the explosive speed and power off the mark. It is sometimes very hard to measure the explosive power stats – look at Corry Jane, weighs just 85kg, but he is incredibly explosive – look at him with ball in hand, he always dominates the tackle, now why is this? I can’t provide an answer, but he must be incredibly explosive and powerful. another is Conrad Smith, by no means a big man, but how often does he go backwards… I feel it may have something to do with core stability and strength and the AB’s focusing on this area of strength, but I am not sure