Ken Borland

Sharks coach Sean Everitt is well aware of the threat posed by the Pumas, having suffered at their hands before, and has warned his team that if they don’t get their act together in their Super Rugby Unlocked match in Nelspruit on Saturday then they will suffer the fate the Stormers were fortunate to escape last weekend.

The Stormers scored a controversial 78^th-minute try at Mbombela Stadium last weekend to pip the Pumas 42-37, their third try in the last 10 minutes, while the Sharks were hammered 41-14 by a ultra-physical Bulls side in Pretoria.

“I wasn’t shocked by the Pumas’ game against the Stormers at all because I’ve been on the receiving end of that before. It’s always difficult to play in Nelspruit, they are always desperate and the players want to attract contracts from the bigger unions. The Pumas probably deserved to win that game and they will see themselves as being unlucky. We won’t be underestimating them.

“We’ve seen what they can produce, we know they are fighters, they will come with tremendous energy like desperate soldiers, that’s what Jimmy Stonehouse is able to get out of them. To keep professional rugby alive in a smaller union they need success and they’re fighting for their livelihoods and their franchise. We need a united effort and we need to get go-forward,” Everitt said this week.

Ideally, given the make-up of their team with a relatively light-weight loose trio and a dazzling backline, the Sharks will want to raise the pace and stretch the Pumas; a tight, forward-dominated scrap is not what they want.

But in order to give themselves the opportunity of playing the high-tempo game they favour, their pack has to put them on the front foot first, which requires a big effort in the set-pieces.

“The fundamentals of the game stay the same and maybe we could do with a bit more synergy in our tight five. Our defence has done really well, the guys are getting off the line quickly and disrupting, but the problem is more at the breakdowns. We’re not getting enough offensive carries because our body height isn’t right and the guys need to work harder against players who are bigger than them.

“The basics don’t change, neither do the position specifics, and if you don’t get set-piece parity then you can’t play. But I don’t think a Sharks team I’ve been involved in has ever underperformed due to a lack of respect for the opposition or a lack of effort in terms of work-rate, we never underestimate anybody. Give the Bulls some appreciation for how they played, and we just didn’t execute our plan the way we would have liked,” Everitt said.

The Pumas are arguably an even more disruptive opposition though and the Sharks need to be desperate in order to have a timely return to winning ways.

Teams

Pumas: Devon Williams, Neil Maritz, Erich Cronje, Wayne van der Bank, Etienne Taljaard, Fiela Boshoff, Ginter Smuts, Jeandré Rudolph, Willie Engelbrecht, Francois Kleinhans, Pieter Jansen van Vuuren (captain), Darrien Landsberg, Ruan Kramer, AJ le Roux, Liam Hendricks. Replacements (from) – Marko Janse van Rensburg, Stephan de Jager, Brendon Valentyn, Phumzile Maqondwana, Chriswill Willemse, Neil Marais, Ali Mgijima, Dewald Maritz, Daniel Maartens, HP van Schoor, Kwanda Dimaza.

Sharks: Manie Libbok, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (captain), Marius Louw, Madosh Tambwe, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Phendulani Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, JJ van der Mescht, John-Hubert Meyer, Dan Jooste, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Mzamo Majola, Michael Kumbirai, Ruben van Heerden, Thembelani Bholi, Grant Williams, Jeremy Ward, Yaw Penxe.

Kickoff: 16h30.

Like all good coaches, Jake White does not like to elevate certain pool games to greater importance than others, but there has been an obvious lifting of the ante this week as the Bulls have prepared for the arrival of their arch-enemies, the Stormers, for their SuperRugby Unlocked match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The importance of the match – between two of the favourites for the title; the top-of-the-log Bulls against the unbeaten Stormers – has been shown by White providing his most obvious example yet of his famous mind games since he arrived in Pretoria.

And White’s focus has been on the importance of the forward battle, with some sledges thrown the Stormers’ way over his perception that they will field a bench with six forwards and just two backs, the veteran coach implying that this was a betrayal of Western Province rugby’s running-rugby traditions.

But there can be no doubt that the Stormers’ greatest strength is their scrum and, in particular, the first-choice Springbok front row of Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Steven Kitshoff.

“The win over the Sharks was a good performance and a massive confidence boost, but this is a really big game on Saturday, just given the history between the two teams and the intensity of the clashes before. The Stormers pride themselves on their scrum and maul and the forward battle is going to be really important and we know we have to match them up front.

“Last week, both our game and the Stormers’ bad game against the Pumas showed that rugby has not changed, the forwards are always the ones who win the game for you and this Saturday will be one of those games too. What we learnt from the Pumas match is that the Stormers use their scrum to get out of their own half, and with that front row that works for you,” White said.

Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen was also certainly looking forward to the arrival of his former team.

“They have a quality pack, that’s where it’s all going to go down. Their forwards really pulled them through against the Pumas, the momentum they got from the scrums allowed them to kick to touch and set up mauls. They may have a 100% success rate at scrum-time, but how many times has the scrum gone down? I think there have been lots of resets, but they know how to scrum.

“We’ve lost a couple of scrums, but we will keep building. We’re trying to work on our consistency as a whole, we’re not there yet and we had a slippery start, losing at the death against the Cheetahs. It hasn’t been the consistency we want, but this is a North versus South derby and hopefully we play better as both individuals and as a team,” Vermeulen said.

Stormers coach John Dobson has been extolling the super powers of Kitshoff, his stand-in captain now that Siya Kolisi is injured, but it is the character of the men from the Cape that has probably been their greatest virtue so far in holding on for victory against the Lions and the great escape in Nelspruit.

Teams

Bulls: David Kriel, Travis Ismaiel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (captain), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Jason Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements – Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marcel van der Merwe, Sintu Manjezi, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Stormers: Warrick Gelant, Edwill van der Merwe, Dan du Plessis, Rikus Pretorius, Leolin Zas, Damian Willemse, Herschel Jantjies, Juarno Augustus, Ernst van Rhyn, Jaco Coetzee, JD Schickerling, Salmaan Moerat, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff (captain). Replacements (from) – Scarra Ntubeni, Leon Lyons, Neethling Fouche, Chris van Zyl, David Meihuizen, Marcel Theunissen, Ben-Jason Dixon, Godlen Masimla, Tim Swiel, Angelo Davids, Tristan Leyds.

Kick-off: 19h00.

Jake White has taken the mickey before when it comes to playing mind games against the opposition and the veteran coach was at it again on Thursday as he named his Bulls team for their big derby match against the Stormers in Pretoria on Saturday.

While White made just one change to his starting XV with Springbok tighthead Trevor Nyakane returning to the No.3 jersey to set up a crunch clash with Steven Kitshoff, he took a swipe at the Stormers and suggestions that they would be fielding a team with six forwards on the bench and just two backs.

“It will make a massive difference that the Stormers are missing two really good players in Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit. But the fact that they are coming to Loftus with like 14 locks suggests they’re going to go with six forwards and two backs on the bench, which I haven’t seen before from any Western Province team.

“When did the Stormers ever need six forwards against the Bulls before? The Stormers used to be known for running the ball but now they’re going to play six forwards off the bench and people are asking the Bulls if we’re going to kick on them?! But rugby hasn’t changed, it’s the forwards who always win the game for you and this will be one of those games where the forward battle is really important,” White said on Thursday.

The 56-year-old White certainly subscribes to the theory that a great tighthead prop is the starting point for any successful team and Nyakane is the sort of sturdy oak who can give them set-piece stability, especially when the Stormers boast a loosehead that is as wonderful a scrummager as Kitshoff. Not to mention South Africa’s first-choice tighthead Frans Malherbe and strong-scrummaging hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

“Trevor can’t play every minute of every game and he added a lot of value off the bench last weekend. But if he can have a good game against the best player in the Stormers squad and we can play with exactly the same intensity then hopefully we can build on the win against the Sharks. We know we have to match them in the scrums because the Stormers use that to get out of their half.

“According to John Dobson, Siya and Pieter-Steph are not the best players he has ever coached – that’s Kitshoff, so I felt it was only fair that we play Trevor against him. The Stormers pride themselves on their scrum and maul, but they haven’t played against this group of players and it will be good to see how they cope with us,” White said with typical bravado.

Bulls team:  David Kriel, Travis Ismaiel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (C), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Jason Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements – Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marcel van der Merwe, Sintu Manjezi, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt on Thursday brought five new starters into the conversation – and two more on the bench – for their SuperRugby Unlocked match against the Pumas in Nelspruit.

Three of the changes were forced by injury, with openside flank James Venter (ankle), tighthead prop Thomas du Toit (calf) and eighthman Sikhumbuzo Notshe (slight hamstring strain) all not available this weekend.

The new faces

Dan Jooste – Everitt has been talking all season about hooker Dylan Richardson adapting to his new position in the front row, but now the 21-year-old former junior international gets the chance to show how interchangeable he is with openside flank as he replaces James Venter in the No.6 jersey.

Jooste is a Paarl Boys’ High product and former Stormers representative who is of similar physical dimensions to Richardson and, according to Everitt, “needs game time after coming off the bench on SuperFan day and against the Lions following a considerable length of time out with a shoulder injury”.

John-Hubert Meyer – The absence of World Cup winner Du Toit will leave the Sharks a bit bereft of leadership and grunt up front, but the Sharks have managed to locate an experienced replacement in Meyer, also born and educated in the Western Cape. The 27-year-old is a seasoned scrummager and knows his way around the gainline.

JJ van der Mescht – The Sharks second row has not been particularly good at either dominating the lineouts or making their presence felt in the collisions, and Everitt has made a change to try and generate more momentum from the tight five. Van der Mescht replaces Ruben van Heerden in the starting line-up, and while both Pretoria products are two metres tall, the 21-year-old Van der Mescht weighs 130kg (14kg more) and is a big force with ball in hand.

Henco Venter – Everitt has been at pains to point out how well his loose trio have actually been playing, but in private he must be concerned over how they have been bullied twice by the Bulls. Former Free Stater Henco Venter, at 1.93 metres and 107kg, will add a harder edge in the loose.

Madosh Tambwe – The exciting speed merchant has been nursing a hamstring strain since the start of the season, but Tambwe is now ready to go and Everitt is eager to give him game time despite the energy brought to the back three by Werner Kok.

Michael Kumbirai – According to Everitt, tighthead prop Kumbirai has worked really hard since his arrival from Western Province and there is excitement at Kings Park over getting him in the mix. “Michael is so keen to get on the field and add value, he’s got the ability to shine and hopefully he takes this opportunity. He’s a physical specimen, well-built and athletic,” Everitt said.

Thembelani Bholi – Bholi has recently moved to Durban from the Bulls, having first made his name with the Southern Kings. A loose forward with a hard edge, Bholi is well-versed at making a physical statement at the gain-line, having spent much of his career at Loftus Versfeld. He is also growing his skills and is able to turn out at eighthman as well.

Sharks team: Manie Libbok, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Marius Louw, Madosh Tambwe, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Phendulani Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, JJ van der Mescht, John-Hubert Meyer, Dan Jooste, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Mzamo Majola, Michael Kumbirai, Ruben van Heerden, Thembelani Bholi, Grant Williams, Jeremy Ward, Yaw Penxe.