Chiliboy Ralapele has been appointed as captain for the Currie Cup.
He will be assisted by Daniel du Preez, Hyron Andrews, John-Hubert Meyer, Marius Louw, Robert du Preez Jnr and Tera Mtembu who forms part of the leadership group.
Currie Cup coaches:
- Rob du Preez Sr (head coach)
- Dick Muir (backline consultant)
- Jaco Pienaar (forwards coach)
- Braam van Straaten (defence)
- AB Zondagh (skills)
- Nick Easter (breakdown, as well as assisting with defence and lineouts)
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Eish slim picking for a captain. We have plenty of coaches so lets see who makes a tangible difference. If any aspect really poor then they should be shown the door. With our very poor handling to date im not sure what AB Zondagh is doing…
I’m hoping for more consistency this campaign. Going to be interesting to see the team we field with Bok/Japanese duties.
Would probably have required less typing to list the players NOT in the leadership group…
@Culling Song (Comment 3) : 😀
@StevieS (Comment 2) : Think something along these lines:
1. Schoeman 2. Chilliboy 3. Meyer 4. Paul 5. Andrews 6. Vosloo 7. Vermuelen 8. DuPreez 9. Schreuder 10. DuPreez 11. Zas? 12. Louw 13. Ward 14. Van Wyk 15. Bosch.
Bench is anyones guess and could see some unknowns there
@SheldonK (Comment 5) : I do hope Cam Wright gets decent game time during the Currie Cup as well – otherwise he may as well starts looking elsewhere
@Bokhoring (Comment 6) : CC isnt exactly a long comp but i expect him and Schreuder to rotate quite a bit
Congrats to Chilli on appointment of captain for CC. There’s been a lot of negative comments wrt the Du Preez boys and coach which in my opinion is unfair. Has the team won anything?No! So why single out certain indviduals just because their dad is coach. These boys would be welcomed in any franchises starting team so stop criticising every little mistake and support them and the team. Almost every player made crucial errors this season. we also adopted a new game plan which seems to be taking time to perfect. Inconsistancy has been our downfall and momentum killer . So good luck to the team and lets win the cup.
@SheldonK (Comment 5) : How about Tristan Blewett at wing?
@Julesgr8ter (Comment 9) : That was my other thought-him or Zas. Think Blewitt may be on the bench as can cover 12-15 basically
So where are all those that were calling for John Mitchell to be appointed Sharks coach as he would be the saviour and is such an excellent coach and and and…well just look how that turned out for the Bulls. Now they are left in a complete mess and need to start again.
@SheldonK (Comment 11) : Mitchell as with many overseas coaches can only be expected to be journeymen. Mitchell doesn’t have the patience or loyalty to be a 6-8 year coach. Better to get a strong assistant team together one that will last.
@coolfusion (Comment 12) : Its a god point but there were many calling the Sharks board crazy for not going after Mitchell as he was a quality coach and would definitelty be the answer to our woes. He talked a good game at the Bulls but he couldnt get them to actually do that on the field- except against the Sharks
@SheldonK (Comment 13) : Well I think he is a revolutionary coach good for turning things around but he is a hunter not a farmer. Imo.
According to Bordeaux-Begles, they’re playing the “Durban Sharks” on Friday.
@SheldonK (Comment 13) : That said, think Mitchell could have been a good fit for the Sharks, even as an interim measure. Really expected the Sharks to have done so much better with the squad they had available. The Bulls had huge injury concerns, which hampered the Bulls. Sharks really only lost Coenie.
@coolfusion (Comment 14) : For me he just talks a good game nothing more
@KingCheetah (Comment 16) : Lets see the fallout at the Bulls and how they recover from Mitchell. As i said i think Mitchell talk a good game but cant turn that into tangible results. I do agree that the Sharks should have done better with the names on paper, however if we are objective and look at how those names were combined we can see a pretty predictable game from the Sharks. I still feel that something was off behind the scenes that resulted in the team looking disinterested in a lot of games
@SheldonK (Comment 18) : Yes, interesting times! The Bulls finances are also in dire straits. Pote Human reckons the structures Mitch has put in place will help in the CC. Lets see.
Congrats to chilli, I was wondering who would be captain this cc
Since mvovo is with the bok squad I wonder is he had not been would he have gone to japan like last year, didnt see any reporting on that
looking forward to seeing johnny meyer and juan schoeman show us what they can do
I have no idea is it will be match 22 or match 23 in this years cc
On the JM story
He clearly make a difference to the bulls as the teams seemed energized and eager to play, however his reported request for better quality players and more money (im not sure if this was true, I didnt see him say it) was weird, not like the bulls had a weak sr team, in fact their sr team was pretty good.
JM isnt making our accessment of him any easier since he cant seem to stay in one place for more than 13 months on avg
I do think his focus on fitness and staying in shape gave the bulls players a fresh take on rugby
I wouldnt say no to him coaching the sharks one day, but under certain conditions
@sudhir (Comment 8) : Agreed and well said!
@Bokhoring (Comment 6) : @SheldonK (Comment 7) : looks as if Sharks signed Luke Stringer from WP so not sure who will play and who will “rest”!?
@SheldonK (Comment 5) : saw photos (on Sharks Instagram page) of Sharks getting ready for Currie cup and looks as if Coenie is training with them so he might be a “surprise” inclusion!
@JD (Comment 23) : He was included in the Bok squad so thik he is almost ready as you say
@JD (Comment 22) : Where did you see that about the signing, and what position does Like play?
@StevieS (Comment 25) : I did some snooping and its seem legit. Was u21 Captain last year and was one of the 19 players available on the WP firersale. Seems he is a scrummy to replace Classen.
Another site has him as a flank though.
@Byron Wright (Comment 26) : As far as i know he is a flank. would be quite a stocky scrumhalf
Seems Franco Smith is still mixing and matching his team in prep for Pro14. Team to play Bulls on Friday night:
Ox Nche, Joseph Dweba, Luan de Bruin, Justin Basson, JP du Preez, Junior Pokomela, Oupa Mohoje, Neill Jordaan, Paige, Tiaan Schoeman, Small-Smith, Nico Lee, Ben10, Rabz Maxwane, Malcolm Jaer
Subs: Jacques du Toit, Edrich de Jager, Gunther J v Vuuren, Dennis Visser, Gerhard Olivier, Shaun Venter, Louis Fouche.
@KingCheetah (Comment 28) : Definitely an interesting selection
@SheldonK (Comment 27) : Stocky implies short and well built. His stats online is listed as 190cm and 98kg 😯
Bulls: Matthys Basson, Edgar Marutlulle, Conrad van Vuuren, Ruben van Heerden, Ruan Nortje, Ruan Steenkamp, Thembelani Bholi, Hanro Liebenberg ©, Andre Warner, Manie Libbok, Jamba Ulengo, JT Jackson, Johnny Kotze, Jade Stighling, Divan Rossouw,
Subs: Jan-Henning Campher, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Hendre Stassen, Jano Venter, Theo Maree, Tony Jantjies, Earll Douwrie.
@Byron Wright (Comment 26) : Thanks, Byron. Now I’m wondering why we need another loosie?
@KingCheetah (Comment 30) : So basically he would be a Mike Phillips clone then
@KingCheetah (Comment 30) : Well if that’s stocky I would like to see Sheldons selection for lock. Two NBA players on each other’s shoulders….:)
@Bokhoring (Comment 33) : 👿 Pretty much. Not a bad clone.
@KingCheetah (Comment 35) : So we should see Bakkies hanging around Kings Park then?
Luke Stringer captained the WP SRC side from 6 – definitely a flank
Stringers a talented player, very mobile, question is do we need him .. are we not well stocked at flank, maybe we are just rolling the dice with a short term contract.
Coenie to make some cameos in the cc ? maybe just maybe, lets see how that works out
So the cc starts this weekend but we have a bye ? or is that a warm up game between the cheetahs and the bulls.
Cheetahs definitely trying combinations, bulls have a dangerous backline
@revolverocelot (Comment 38) : We have not had a decent open-side since Marcell left. We are well stocked with 7’s and 8’s.
@revolverocelot (Comment 38) : Maybe the Dups are off to the Bulls. 😈
@StevieS (Comment 25) : @Byron Wright (Comment 26) : @SheldonK (Comment 27) : @Bokhoring (Comment 37) : saw him is Sharks gear on the Sharks Instagram page. Googled him and sites stated his a 9. Great if he’s an open side as the Sharks needs that but also not that well stocked at 7 & 8 for Currie cup. JL with Bokke, Ginger and Vermeulen in Japan so most of the regular starters will not be available!
@KingCheetah (Comment 30) : @coolfusion (Comment 34) : haha i couldnt tell height as was just a picture of him on his own i saw on the Steve Haag Sports page. Although the idea of a NBA player at lock isnt the worst idea- those guys are pretty well built.
I see the Sharks team has been announced and it includes Akker on the bench. Is Akker not with the Boks, I find that hard to believe.
@Bokhoring (Comment 39) : I see the signing of a decent 6 as a positive step. PvdV is a top quality 8 and should be playing ahead of Dan.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 43) : Good news for the Sharks and makes sense for the boks to keep him game ready as he wont be in the side with marx and Bongi covering hooker.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 43) : Seems Akker was released to play Fri which means Marx/Mbonambi will play for the Boks
Any idea whats happened to Johan Deysel?
@SheldonK (Comment 46) : Mbonambi was actually pretty good against England
@Bokhoring (Comment 48) : Yeh thought so too- i liked him when he was at the Bulls originally
@Bokhoring (Comment 39) : Good point, also I didnt realise Vermualen also went off to japan until sr
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 40) : Loftus would be packed for every home game lol
@Byron Wright (Comment 47) : My thoughts as well, he was really good in the src, but did get a injury during the season
@Bokhoring (Comment 48) : Bongi held his own indeed, I was impressed, I too thought he showed promise at the bulls. with the boks in durbs and the sharks playing a friendly it makes sense that they would let aker get some game time with us, the only concern would be what if aker gets a knock and either malcom or bongi pull a muscle in the warm up etc whose fourth choose brits I guess, is brits in the squad. does brits have sr team yet ? his changed his mind about retiring right, come to durban bru
@revolverocelot (Comment 50) : I dont expect Akker to get that much game time tonight for the Sharks and i expect to see him in and around the Bok warmup tomorrow too. If you get to the game early you see that a number of guys not in the 23 actually warm up fully kitted just in case