The Sharks are back at home to face the Chiefs this weekend, and we won’t know which team arrives until kick-off. What we do know is that the Chiefs are missing their All Blacks, and that should make the Sharks favourites for this clash.
Coach Robert du Preez has made some rotational changes to the backline, hoping to keep his charges fresh. Louis Schreuder should take this opportunity with both hands as he is being outplayed by Wright. Mvovo also gets a shot at wing again, after his last start was at fullback. There should also be some stability in the loose trio with the inclusion of Philip van der Walt.
For the Chiefs, who have heard all week how depleted their squad is, there could be some massive motivation to show this Sharks team, and the associated press, just how they can perform without their All Blacks. So beware of that happening, the Sharks always seem to bring out their worst when they are favourites in a match, especially heavy favourites as they are today.
I am looking forward seeing Chiefs captain Ngatai lining up across from Lukhanyo Am, it should be a very evenly contested match up.
The match kicks off at 15h00.
Sharks: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Sibusiso Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Ruan Botha (captain), 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Makazole Mapimpi.
Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Sean Wainui, 13 Charlie Ngatai (captain), 12 Johnny Faauli, 11 Solomon Alaimalo, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Pita Gus Sowakula, 7 Liam Messam, 6 Luke Jacobson, 5 Michael Allardice, 4 Tyler Ardron, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Liam Polwart, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe’.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Sam Prattley, 18 Sosefo Kautai, 19 Jesse Parete, 20 Matt Matich, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Luteru Laulala, 23 Toni Pulu.
Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Archie Sehlako (South Africa)
TMO: Willie Vos (South Africa)
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😯
Lets hope this ref is not as poor as he was last week.
Scrum looking ok so far gaining us a penalty
Great offloads and passing fro our front row. Rob scores
Chiefs to get a good hiding today.
Chiefs score from a lineout.
10-7
Sharks need to keep their accuracy.
Bosch should have passed
Try gone abegging
Bosch is really starting to get on my nerves
Sharks needs to get a grip. Too many errors
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 11) : Said it last year already, he is a liability, the new earl rose. Every good moment comes with 5 bad ones
Sharks should settle down and maybe just take the penalty kicks for now
Don’t know who”s kakker today between Esterhuizen and Bosch
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 15) : The dup brothers running away from support……..
@jdolivier (Comment 16) : Yes everything”s totally disjointed
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 17) : They’re too eager today the whole team
Pathetic effort by the Sharks thus far
Sharks need to calm down and be patient. 10 all
Even van Der Walt is causing kak today. What the hell why can they only play for 2 minutes at a time
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 19) : Pathetic would be an improvement
Here is the sharks team we’ve come to despise the last few seasons, thanks for another game fucked up boys
Jeez can someone please just fucking pass or catch?????????
Sharks could have been 20 nil up by now.
Chiefs are starting to believe they can win this game
@Bokhoring (Comment 26) : Well we’ve given them 10 opportunities to score and purposely fucked up ours, so yes they should be winning
@Bokhoring (Comment 25) : The Sunwolves probably would have. Not this lot
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 28) : On paper this squad should be top 3 in the tournament, on grass we are definitely bottom 2
Come on guys over critical. Yes we messed up but so did they. Also we have been camping in their half with way more dangerous play. Let’s wait to see if we can finish better before we throw in the towel.
@jdolivier (Comment 29) : The Sharks Story summed up. Always lots of potential and lots of talk of doing things right this year…
@coolfusion (Comment 30) : Sorry mate, been in this position too many times the last 2 years. They forgot how to win
@coolfusion (Comment 30) : They need to get back to the play of the first 10 minutes. Carry on playing like the last 30 and we will loose against a very inexperienced team at hone
@Bokhoring (Comment 33) : That’s kind of our speciality, especially in Currie Cups
@jdolivier (Comment 32) : I agree they aren’t where they should be but this is winnable. We just need the finish. Bosch really disappointed me with an inside man and losing on the line he should be more aware
Much better. Mvovo scores
15-10
Basics done well. That’s all we need.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 38) : Agreed all the butchered tries we lost just needed a level head.
Good maul defense from the Sharks today
@coolfusion (Comment 35) : He is not the saviour of sharks rugby like many believe, the man is earl rose reincarnated
Chiefs score intercept try.
Chiefs lead 17-15
@jdolivier (Comment 41) : Early had a whole career that amounted to nothing. This kid has had 2 years, patience bud. Too earl-y to call.
And that is the last time Andre Esterhuizen will be considered for the boks, he had miles of space in front of him why pass
@jdolivier (Comment 45) : Yip.
Aren’t those ‘daisy-cutter’ tackles a yellow?
@coolfusion (Comment 44) : He should be in the 7’s squad in my opinion
18-17
@McLovin (Comment 47) : Only if a prop does it
Another decent passage messed up by a silly handling error
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 50) : I see. Thanks
Akker off wtf Rob?
Monster scrum from the Sharks force an error from Chiefs in front of the posts
Cam scores under the posts.
Time to put these Chiefs away now.
23-17
@McLovin (Comment 56) : Agree
Follow up keep pressure going
Wright couldn”t believe his eyes when that chasm opened up
Ginger great on support and loses the ball in contact
Chiefs conceding lots of penalties
@Bokhoring (Comment 60) : For me vd Walt and the du Preez boys is a no brainer on starting loose trio.
@coolfusion (Comment 62) : The Chiefs showed that they get rattled when you don’t allow them to dominate in the carry, though.
Beast had a huge game today
Not releasing? Clearly lifted his arm and chiefs were gathering that ball. Ref is a doos.
Good pressure defense turns over Chiefs ball
@coolfusion (Comment 65) : First mistake from him though
28-17
Cam-Sbu combo is working well on the box kicks
No card two infringements in red zone. This ref is a (say it with me) DOOS.
@coolfusion (Comment 65) : As the number 1 ref basher on this site, Fraser hasn’t been bad today
@coolfusion (Comment 70) : And now I have to withdraw my previous comment. Very lenient
@coolfusion (Comment 70) : Refs in general are too scared to give cards in the red zone. Especially early on.
They should have a ten metre line and any penalty for hands in, going off feet, not rolling away etc should be an automatic yellow imo.
@jdolivier (Comment 72) : Dude there was a high tackle and a cynical no arm off the ball in the same phase. Lenient is putting it mildly.
@McLovin (Comment 73) : Agree. Since red zone has a huge influence on the possibility of scoring.
@coolfusion (Comment 74) : Kiwi ref kiwi team equals lenient
@coolfusion (Comment 74) : Add the last two rucks had neck rolls to clean out our players
Chiefs score the last try but the Sharks still wins
Another handling error from Ginger. The man needs to work on his hands
Not the pakslae I was hoping for, but a win none the less.
@jdolivier (Comment 77) : Yes. Correct. We won though. Boys did put in 80. Not the greatest 80. But a result none the less.
Not convincing at all. Something seriously wrong with this team’s mental conditioning.
Good win for the Sharks if you happy to be a bottom half team. Not good enough if you want to stand some chance to win the trophy
@McLovin (Comment 80) : How was that drop from sunwolves Extremely difficult from that angle. A total 50 50
16 handling errors not acceptable.
Sharks have overtaken the Stormers and for now the Bulls and Jaguares on the log.
@jdolivier (Comment 85) : Wow. Even my comment is sub par according to your standards. You’re having a rough day boet. Come on at least forgive me….
@coolfusion (Comment 84) : Didn’t see it unfortunately. Sounds amazing. 🙂
@McLovin (Comment 89) : Ja it was. But very lucky. Stormers did let them in way too much. A game they could have won unfortunately.
@Bokhoring (Comment 83) : Agreed this kind of game will NOT get us there.
@coolfusion (Comment 88) : Angry at the team, fully agree with your assessment of the situation. I’ll by you a beer next time I’m in KZN. Commiserate our sorrows of being emotional supporters
@coolfusion (Comment 90) : Ja swaer. Not too keen to spend much time or energy complaining about them. And not to sound like a broken record, but they need a head coach of the John Mitchell/Eddie Jones level.
@jdolivier (Comment 92) : You can’t feel too kak winning a game. That’s unrealistic.
@coolfusion (Comment 94) : I will apologise if the negativity affected your experience of the game. Just struggling to find positives this season
@jdolivier (Comment 96) : fI am just so sick of the like of you always criticising the team, your crap comment that the players don’t care about supporters like little old you.
Mate i had A very close look at Jean Luc when he came off he field ,that guy probably put more energy and commitment into todays game than you have put into your entire life
Just curious if you ahave ever been a satisfied Sharks supporter,,which team .which year and probably in your case which game.
@The hound (Comment 98) : Feeling is mutual regarding your nonchalant criticism, very often, of most people on this site. Up until the moment John Smit had a brain fart and so eloquently dismissed the one coach that made average players(we have had great players since and surely will in the future) play like a world beating team. I even enjoyed the pre 1990’s. What I can not stomach is when this much potential is wasted so regularly. You and I never have to agree on a single thing bar our choice of rugby team. That I can live with
@jdolivier (Comment 99) : Save your vitriol for when we lose or maybe bettter still get to the game and watch for yourself.stop ;letting super sport tell you what you are seeing.
@jdolivier (Comment 97) : Well here’s one. How good does our scrumhalfs options look compared to two years ago. Really privileged to have both these guys. Esterhuizen is a machine. So much grunt with Akker Phillip and the dup boys. We really only have to learn to tie things together otherwise what an awesome lineup much better than we’ve had for years. But I get the frustration dude I think we all feel it it such huge potential not getting on top. But we’ve been patient with less. When these kids fire they really are a delight to watch.
@jdolivier (Comment 99) : Dude you really are very upset at a win? I grant that it’s not our best but show me one team that has consistently been head and shoulders above including NZ teams. Take the win celebrate it we have shown we can beat top dogs even if we did lose to minnows here and there that must surely give you some hope. Imsgine if you were a Kings supporter being beaten down so relentlessly? There’s Hope and potential my friend and that’s a lot.
@coolfusion (Comment 102) : Agreed on both comments. However we’ve played SA teams 4 times this comp and won only once. Are you rating Kiwi rugby higher, if so there is a serious problem with our systems that we only succeed against 30% of the competition as our Aussie record this season sucks. Overjoyed that we pulled through this match and won. Will never be unhappy with a win. The issue I have is not just today it is the underlying unspoken problem in the franchise. We won, let’s celebrate. How we got there, especially this season, let’s worry.
@coolfusion (Comment 102) : I concede, to all offended, apologies. Remember we were the same as the Kings not that long ago. The success the banana boys achieved is why I wish such high standards on them
Can we try and keep things civil at least? Disagree vehemently by all means, but no need to get personal
Take every win over a loss, but the basic skills on show were terrible. AE went back to what he was up until this season, nothing but a bosh merchant. PVDW was terrible.
This is a very average Chiefs team and to beat them at home by only 4 points is a win, but my word it is an ugly win.
Please can someone enlighten me as to why the Chiefs, All Blacks had to fly home for a training camp while all the rest of the All Blacks were allowed to play on the week end.
@The hound (Comment 104) : Believe there’s been a few training camps during super season. Just so happened it was Chiefs turn this weekend.
@Loosehead (Comment 103) : Agree fully with your assessment. Except I think Andre did the best he could with what he was given. Our attacking line very shallow I think we can afford to skip Rob now and then and have him link up to give Andre a chance to build momentum and execute effective angles. Since he is the better line breaker.
@McLovin (Comment 105) : So who were the last New Zealand team to lose all their All Blacks for a game,and who were there opponents,I can’t remember this,
@The hound (Comment 107) : No-one. This was the first 3 day camp. Starts today (Sunday) and runs till Tuesday.
Just bad luck for the Chiefs that they were away in SA. So to get back in time for the camp they couldn’t play yesterday.
Blues and Canes AB’s also going to same camp as far as I’m aware.
@jdolivier (Comment 101) : Sure you have every right to have high standards and would seem that this year things fell into place nicely for us to be the top performer in the series. I know the losses to local teams stick in the craw but for me there a only a few underlying issues. For one our backs have defensive issues like high ball, bad judgement in terms if reading the run of play early. We have overeager attacks with speculative offloading especially Nkosi many times Bosch. But our biggest problem is that we abandon our team plays very quickly and hope for one off running to make the difference. It would seem that they don’t listen to the coach once they are rattled. Sure we have a great game if we score early and follow that up quickly. But just give them a shaky start and the clam up and sometimes they can mentally overcome and sometimes it takes them too long to do that and too much points advantage has come between. Talent and passion we have in spades but discipline and patience need work. I think it’s in the nature of such performance players to expect instant gratification they must learn to quickly adapt when some spanners get thrown in the works. It takes too long to get their mindset right again.
@McLovin (Comment 108) : Sounds like a lot of bullshit to me, surely if you were scheduling an All Blacks camp on a rotation basis you would first look at the calendar and say whose available,Super rugby calendar has been out since last year.
Why start the camp with the one team thats away,shit even SARU are not that stupid.
@The hound (Comment 110) : In NZ the AB’s rule. So I guess they schedule the camps to suit their preparation for the upcoming French tests and everybody just has to dance to their tune.
On a different note. What’s up with Ashwin? Did Nick & Naas forget his birthday?
@McLovin (Comment 112) : Watched that, it got very serious, love to see what develops from it.
About time somebody shut that pompous prick Mallet up ,most self opinionated arse hole around, constantly talking over everyone else.
Ashwin is not to be triffled with he came up the hard way, did time in prison and not for politics.
I thought the young studio girl handled the situation brilliantly,seaoned broadcasters would have frozen as that all happened on live T.V.
@The hound (Comment 113) : Oh ok. Sounds serious.
@McLovin (Comment 114) : Believe it will be bigger than Kamp Staaldraad,
@coolfusion (Comment 109) : Pumas / Jaguares decided a few years back to change to a more enterprising style of play. They also made plenty of errors but look at them now. They managed a perfect Australasian tour, which no SA team has ever managed.
The Sharks need to continue with their current style, but they do need to find a way to gradually improve on the errors. 24 in one match is just not acceptable
@The hound (Comment 113) : @McLovin (Comment 114) : I watched the full clip, not just the part were he lost his shit, which is the once circulating without any context. They never mentioned any of the things he was talking about, so I’m guessing something had to happen of the set? Or did I miss something?
@Quintin (Comment 117) : Only saw the meltdown. Though he seemed very composed. Guessing it’s been brewing for a while.
@coolfusion (Comment 109) : Totally agree. We have amazing individuals, unfortunately we are a mediocre team. That is something that Plumtree got right, team first, superstars second.
@McLovin (Comment 118) : If social media is to be believed, Ashwin and Mallet have a very bad track record. Not sure why he lost his cool, he did handle it quite well. Mallet does quite often have a condescending tone towards Ashwin, maybe he just ran out of patience
@The hound (Comment 113) : Two things we now agree on
@The hound (Comment 104) : In NZ they know that one of their team will likely win SR, but more importantly in NZ the AB team is the most important thing.
Unlike in SA where the tail wags the dog.
@jdolivier (Comment 120) : Thats what it seems like.
let’s wait till we know everything on this incident with ash, seems like there’s more to the story then what we saw. Twitter has already picked sides unfortunately.
good win against the chiefs, what we really need to do is regroup and win in Arg, thats would really put us back on track
Doesnt exactly seem fair that we then fly back to durb to face the lions of all teams, followed by the june break, rest and conditioning for some players, other possible drafted into the SRC team
back from the break we get stormers in cape tow. and jagaures in durbs
four tought tough games ahead, no counting chickens
@Poisy (Comment 124) : I agree 100%
@revolverocelot (Comment 125) : The guys will need to take their A-game (e.g. Canes and Highlanders) on the plane today. Did not watch the Bulls game – although I expected the Jags to win, it sounds like the Jags really put the Bulls to the sword in the second half.
We will start as definite underdogs, but this is the type of game for which the Sharks often lift themselves.
@McLovin (Comment 118) : Meltdowns not only limited to Sharksworld. It can now be named as meltdown Saturday.
@Poisy (Comment 124) : ja unfortunately lots of people already picked sides without any information of what actually happened!!! Let’s wait and see what is the real story before judging anyone!!!
@JD (Comment 129) : Unlikely we will ever get the full truth but will be interesting to see the fall out from this…
@SheldonK (Comment 130) : I cannot see any outcome where SuperSport will not loose, unless they can convince the trio to publicly kiss and make up
@Bokhoring (Comment 131) : They can give Ashwin his own show. As a reward for petulant behaviour. Seriously could they not have sorted their issues privately and failing that escalate to management? Now there are threats against race and the sport itsself by clueless politicians looking for a platform. I would rather just want to ignore this rubbish altogether.
@Bokhoring (Comment 131) : Yeh i agree with you on that. He has put Supersport in a very tight spot
@Bokhoring (Comment 131) : Thats correct, Supersport and Multichoice are set to lose, I think for many people the DSTV full package is one of their biggest grudge buys on a monthly basis and this just may help many of those to rather spend that R900.00 on more worthy pursuits.
@coolfusion (Comment 132) : Seems like it already was Ashwins show, why else would the other 2 be doing all the legwork for him. 😈
Hi guys I think it’s time to step off this whole Supersport debacle.
Only people that have the info of what exactly happened is the ones that was in the studio. So to stop speculations and to ensure we stay within the site rule and spirit this topic is now done.
Let’s focus on rugby and specifically Sharks rugby!
Thanks for understanding and hope you all have a wonderful Sharks Monday.
@JD (Comment 136) : Ok, lines up, nothing was biting around here anyway. Virtual Bassmasters here I come.
Going to be interesting to see which Sharks make the Bok squad…i think there could be a few. All SA teams been up and down and not consistent which must be roubling for Rassie
@SheldonK (Comment 138) : Also interested to see how he manages the silly Wales “test” before the English tour
@Bokhoring (Comment 139) : Only about half the team for Wales will be 1st choice apparently.
@McLovin (Comment 140) : The only positive that I can see from this moneymaking (and it seems it is not even going to do that), is that we will have a clear idea who Rassie sees as first choice and then the next best.
I hope the lions pick up many many injuries against the stormers this week, cause I cant see us beating that well oiled machine, even in durb.
if whitely is able to play agaist us then we must have done something horrible in a past life, lions are even better with him around.
The only winners in this super sport fiasco could be the Sharks,Mallett most one eyed Stormer around,Naas king Blue Bull,Ashwin the Lions chief suporterr, none of those three ever had anything decent ever to say about the Sharks,and always were always the first to put the boot in whenever we faltered,
I feel absolutely nothing for any of them and the only one I will miss is Ashwin,nobody ever said Saaaarks quite like him.
The other big losers here are the cape/News24 press corps for whom Mallett was the official cheerleader,
@Bokhoring (Comment 139) : Why do we always seem to play Wales outside the test window? This game in the US seems to be such a disaster, dont think they can even give tickets away
@SheldonK (Comment 144) : The viability had been in question since Feb but our rugby bosses still stick their heads in the sand and now the window for alternate arrangements has closed. This one will be a financial loss. After stadium hire they Probably won’t even be able to cover traveling costs and accommodation.
@revolverocelot (Comment 125) : We are only playing the Lions on the 30th June. This weekend is the last Super Rugby action for SA teams before the June tests.
@coolfusion (Comment 145) : I dont know how they ever thought it would make money. The Boks and Wales arent exactly big draw cards currently. Maybe if one were playing USA they might have better attendance. So if you had a double header of Boks vs USA and Wales vs Canada then maybe it worth actually make some money
@SheldonK (Comment 147) : Exactly, Boks cant even fill a stadium at home, not unless they are playing the ABs at Newlands.
@SheldonK (Comment 147) : You are talking about SARU amongst others. Forethought , statistical analysis and common sense does not factor into decisions. Look at their coaching decisions, player policies, inability to act on obviously evident issues and crises….If they DIDN’T blunder, now that would amaze it surprise me. As it is it’s pretty much par….
@coolfusion (Comment 149) : Cant argue with you on that point. And who will actually coach the guys in the USA? Im assuming sanity prevails and Rassie stays in SA to prepare that squad for England.
This game has been organised by the Welsh not us, we were scheduled to play them and as it is their home game they can choose wherever they want to play.
The game is not organised by either country. It’s organized by a company called RIM rugby international matching. They contracted both unions to play. Because of slow ticket sales they asked for the fees to both countries to be reduced substantially. SA rugby basically says money is money so we go ahead. Do no matter the turnout we’re just happy to play in US since we already have an agreement for payment upfront.
@coolfusion (Comment 152) : It may have freakshow value to the Yanks.