Ken Borland

While most of the attention around the Sharks has been focused on the lack of clinical finishing in their attack, the gaps in their defensive matrix are also a concern as they go into their vital United Rugby Championship match against the Dragons at Kings Park on Friday night.

As coach Sean Everitt has pointed out, while the Sharks were extremely wasteful of their opportunities in last weekend’s loss against Edinburgh, they also leaked three tries in sodden conditions, so it’s not as if their defence was faultless either. And the Dragons scored three tries against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld to show that they have the weaponry to hurt the home side if they lose their shape in defence.

“In the last week everyone obviously looks at the opportunities we created on attack and were not converted, but we also need to look at the tries we conceded,” Everitt said.

“We let in three tries, so that means we need to score four to win the game, but that’s very difficult in these conditions.

“There were small details we fell short on in terms of taking our opportunities, but it’s a massive issue that we conceded three soft tries that we could have handled normally,” Everitt said.

The Sharks coach seldom volunteers much comment on individual performances, but given the spotlight on Curwin Bosch, Everitt felt the need to set the record straight on his starting flyhalf.

“There’s been a lot of talk about Curwin and we need to be factual,” Everitt said. “His kicking has been really good until last week and his kicking stats are the best we have.

“Against Zebre Parma he controlled the game and attacked much better than he had before. In terms of game-management, he did really well against Edinburgh.

“He showed his class in tough conditions and we were able to win 65% territory. Plus no-one sees the leadership he puts in through the week, how he performs well in training,” Everitt said.

Victory against the Dragons is crucial for the eighth-placed Sharks because they host the in-form Lions in their next match, before closing the round-robin campaign with games against top sides in Leinster, Connacht and Ulster.

Although the Sharks have rotated their loose forwards, a lock, scrumhalf and centre, coach Sean Everitt says he is pleased their URC opponents on Friday night – the Dragons – have bolstered their team with four internationals saying it “will be a good game for us to develop further”.

While the Sharks’ powerhouse front row of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Thomas du Toit remains the same, Le Roux Roets comes in for Reniel Hugo at No.4 lock and James Venter, Jeandre Labuschagne and Phepsi Buthelezi will be the loose trio, with Siya Kolisi and Sikhumbuzo Notshe on the bench and Henco Venter resting.

Jaden Hendrikse rotates with Grant Williams at scrumhalf and Jeremy Ward replaces Marius Louw at inside centre.

The Dragons, meanwhile, have been reinforced by the arrival of Wales representatives in flanks Ross Moriarty, Aaron Wainwright and Taine Basham, and lock Will Rowlands.

“Facing the Dragons with their internationals will be a good game for us to develop further,” Everitt said. “Our rotation was premeditated and not because of last weekend’s loss, but it’s very important that we improve every week.

“Last week the guys did everything in their power to win, we won every aspect of the game from the power battle to metres kicked, but obviously everyone looks at the opportunities we created on attack and did not convert.

“Next week will be five games in a row and in my experience players start to fatigue after game four, so it’s a good time to start freshening up after three weeks,” Everitt said.

The Sharks are confident they will have the grunt up front to counter what they believe will be a huge response from the Dragons to their 55-20 mauling at the hands of the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend.

“We expect a big physical onslaught from the Dragons, they will be a different kettle of fish this week,” Everitt said.

“But James Venter has shown that when he is on form he is probably one of the best No.6s in the country, he was chosen for the Green and Gold match after outstanding performances in 2020.

“Phepsi Buthelezi has performed well but we felt we needed to give Sikhumbuzo Notshe a string of games after he recovered from injury. Jeandre Labuschagne is a good lineout option.

“And Thomas du Tout has experience of what is required as captain, he is proud to be captain and I am sure he will show that. He is a no-nonsense man,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Anthony Volmink, Werner Kok, Ben Tapuai, Jeremy Ward, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jeandre Labuschagne, James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Thomas du Toit (c), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Reniel Hugo, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Siya Kolisi, Grant Williams, Boeta Chamberlain.

Bulls supporters can treat themselves to a top-class rugby match for just R25 on Saturday as ticket prices for their crunch game against Ulster at Loftus Versfeld have been slashed.

The move follows a disappointing response last weekend to government’s relaxing of the Covid regulations to allow sports stadiums to have spectators up to 50% of capacity.

The biggest attendance in the four United Rugby Championship matches played in South Africa last weekend came at Kings Park in Durban when a crowd of 5120 braved a torrential downpour and a frustrating loss for the Sharks team against Edinburgh. But that was still less than 10% of capacity.

Cape Town Stadium (capacity 55 000) had a crowd of 3544 for the Stormers’ nailbiting win over Ulster, about 3000 people attended the Bulls’ previous game at Loftus Versfeld (capacity 50 000) and Ellis Park (capacity 62 000) had a paltry crowd of 2500 for the Lions’ impressive win over the Ospreys, but it was a Friday night, 7pm kickoff in Doornfontein, which is always a hard sell.

A variety of reasons have been put forward for the poor attendances, including a lack of sufficient time for both the unions and the fans to change their plans in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement.

Ticket prices have also been suggested as a deterrent in these tough economic times. Cape Town Stadium tickets ranged in price from R80 to R200 per person, Kings Park was R50 to R160 and Ellis Park was R40 to R180.

Tickets for the match between the Bulls and the Dragons were at an average of R100, so prices have been slashed by a whopping 75%. And it has proven to be a success with CEO Edgar Rathbone revealing they had sold 3000 tickets on Tuesday morning alone.

The fact that the stadiums can now also sell alcohol to spectators could be a telling factor as well to getting the crowds back to rugby.

Anecdotally, other reasons that have been put forward for not attending include the requirement that all spectators be vaccinated or produce a negative Covid test that is less than 72 hours old; the hassle of getting to some of the stadiums making it much easier to just watch on TV; and security concerns.

There has been no word yet on whether the Sharks, Lions and Stormers will follow the Bulls’ lead in cutting the price of tickets. Their websites still reflected the same prices as for last weekend on Tuesday afternoon.

But rugby administrators should be able to tell from the size of the crowd at Loftus Versfeld at 2pm on Saturday whether ticket prices really do make a difference to attendance.

The Proteas are always a bit hesitant about what they will find on the opening morning of a Test at Kingsmead and they will go into the first Test against Bangladesh starting in Durban on Thursday with even more uncertainty as a newly relaid pitch will be used for the match.

South Africa have lost seven of their last 10 Tests at Kingsmead, dating back to 2008, with just two wins and a rain-ruined draw against New Zealand in 2016. Their last Test there was the infamous one-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in 2019.

The Proteas have seldom found the sluggish pitch to their liking, their bowlers struggling to drag much life out of it, and their strokeplayers also unsure of themselves. The home side was happy to see a fair covering of grass on the wicket on Wednesday, but it was of a hue that left even KZN Dolphins star Keshav Maharaj confused as to how it might behave.

“It’s difficult to know how the pitch will play because we have not seen this colour of grass here before,” left-arm spinner Maharaj said on Wednesday. “It is a newly relaid surface and it is difficult to read.

“From my point of view, I hope it does spin of course. We’re expecting it to be a good four-day pitch and I’m sure there will be some thought of playing double spinners.

“I’ve never played a match with Simon Harmer, so I will be really excited if he does get the opportunity. He’s been an exceptional performer at domestic and franchise level, and he’s followed that up this season.

“He’s also done well when he played international cricket,” Maharaj said of the off-spinner who took 20 wickets in the five Tests he played up to 2015 before his Kolpak departure, at an average of 29.40.

With some new faces in line to take the place of the players unavailable because they are at the IPL, Maharaj is expecting the Proteas to play with great energy as they look to win their first Test at Kingsmead since 2013, when Jacques Kallis signed off his Test career with a memorable century against India.

“We’ve had a phenomenal year since touring the West Indies. Yes, there have been some lows, and the ODI loss to Bangladesh has hurt, but this is a different unit and hopefully we can carry the confidence from the Test series against India,” Maharaj said.

“This team has come a long way, we make training uncomfortable to try emulate what we will come across in terms of conditions, and we are ready to turn the tide at Kingsmead.

“There’s a new buzz in the camp because there are a lot of youngsters, hopefully those new faces help us start on the front foot because it will be difficult in a two-Test series if we make a slow start,” Maharaj said.