Ken Borland

The Sharks have failed so far to touch the great heights they reached at the start of the year in SuperRugby, but when they host the Pumas in a Currie Cup fixture on Friday night at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, they will be looking to start the new competition with a clean slate and with a slick performance.

The Sharks scraped to a one-point win over Griquas, a team similar to the Pumas, in their last outing, but they won 42-19 in Nelspruit in their match there earlier this season, which will give them some confidence.

Apart from that disappointing display, and a loss to the champion Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, the Sharks’ graph has generally been upwards, however, and Springbok Thomas du Toit makes his return to the front row after injury to provide a timely boost to a scrum that has struggled at times.

The Pumas finished second-bottom on the Super Rugby Unlocked log with their only victory coming in week two against Griquas in Kimberley, but they were unfortunate not to collect more points. They have some big, heavy hitters and an enterprising backline means they are not easy to defend against. The Pumas were particularly impressive in a narrow defeat to the powerhouse Stormers, so the Sharks will know it could be a very close contest.

The Pumas have been hard hit in recent weeks though by players testing positive for Covid-19, and that could affect their cohesion.

“Obviously our long-term goal is to win the Currie Cup, but we’re not going to win it if we don’t perform well, so our focus is just on the job at hand this weekend. It’s an opportunity for us to perform at our optimum, we’ve done really well at home this season, we’re unbeaten at Kings Park.

“The Pumas ran the Bulls close though in the second half last weekend and there are no easy games in this competition as we saw against Griquas. We are four points behind on the log and there are just six games in the Currie Cup, so it’s important that we start building log points and to get five against the Pumas would be great,” Sharks coach Sean Everitt said.

Teams

Sharks: Manie Libbok, Yaw Penxe, Jeremy Ward (c), Marius Louw, Madosh Tambwe, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Thembelani Bholi, JJ van der Mescht, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Kerron van Vuuren, Ox Nche. REPLACEMENTS – Daniel Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Hanro Jacobs, Zain Davids, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Cameron Wright, Werner Kok, Sbu Nkosi.

Pumas: Devon Williams; Morné Joubert, Erich Cronjé, Ali Mgijima, Etienne Taljaard; Theo Boshoff, Ginter Smuts; Francois Kleinhans, Phumzile Maqondwana, Daniel Maartens; Pieter Janse van Vuren ©, Darrien Landsberg; Ruan Kramer, HP van Schoor. Liam Hendriks. Bench: Marko Janse van Rensburg, Wikus Groenewald, Brandon Valentyn, Heath Backhouse, Chriswill September ,Wayne van der Bank, Tapiwa Mafura, Dewald Maritz.

Kickoff: 7pm.

The plucky scrappers from Kimberley tore into their defensive duties but ultimately the big city boys of the Sharks prevailed as they beat Griquas 30-16 in their hard-fought opening round Currie Cup fixture at Tafel Lager Park on Saturday.

It was not the most clinical display by the Sharks, but they were more composed at the key moments and better at converting the vital opportunities that came their way. And the key to their victory was probably the two tries they scored in two minutes in the third quarter that gave them a healthy 25-6 lead after they went into halftime 10-6 up.

The first try came through slick work by wing Werner Kok, who grubbered down the line for centre Jeremy Ward to dot down; the second was through a quickfire counter-attack as the Sharks attacked down the left wing, scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse was up in support as usual and he sent lock Hyron Andrews galloping away for the try.

But Griquas fought back. Wing Eduan Keyter finished brilliantly through a kick through by centre Andre Swarts and then made the break that led to his fellow wing Daniel Kasande rounding off a brilliant counter-attack. But the Griquas’ effort, feisty as it was, lacked polish and their ill-discipline and poor finishing cost them in the end.

The Sharks were under pressure in bot the scrums and lineouts, which made it difficult for them to produce sizzling rugby. But a rolling maul try by replacement hooker Kerron van Vuuren in the 79^th minute saw them escape from the frying pan with a bonus point that certainly was a bonus.

Scorers

Griquas – Try: Eduan Keyter. Penalties: George Whitehead (2).

Sharks – Tries: Phendulani Buthelezi, Jeremy Ward, Hyron Andrews, Kerron van Vuuren. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (2). Penalty: Chamberlain. Drop goal: Chamberlain.

Siya Kolisi taking just 16 minutes to score his first try for his new team summed up a dazzling start for the Sharks, laying the platform for a 45-12 win over the Bulls in their preparation fixture in Durban on Friday night.

The Sharks brushed off the sodden conditions, Kings Park resembling a swamp, scoring five tries in the first 25 minutes to race into a 31-5 lead. Their fast start was enabled by their first two scrums being massively dominant, earning penalties which first set up hooker Fez Mbatha for a try and then earned a penalty try (and a yellow card for Bulls hooker Schalk Erasmus) inside the first eight minutes.

The Bulls were on the board after 13 minutes, Kolisi almost intercepting flyhalf Morne Steyn’s pass to Marnus Potgieter, but the outside centre showed great skill to take the ball outside his man and break the line before passing out wide for eighthman Nizaam Carr to score.

But the Springbok captain had his moment of glory just three minutes later. A Sharks attack seemed to be going nowhere, but flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain and wing Sbu Nkosi, changing direction to good effect, sparked something. Nkosi provided the telling break, Kolisi was up in support and he powered through two tacklers to score.

Kolisi’s debut lasted until the 50^th minute, longer than coach Sean Everitt said he expected, but that was due to eighthman Sikhumbzo Notshe rolling an ankle in the first half and needing to be replaced. Kolisi had a quiet but industrious game, wearing the No.6 jersey but playing more of a traditional eighthman linking role. His last action came when he was bumped off in midfield by Bulls centre Dawid Kellerman, on his way to the tryline on a monstrous run from halfway.

Centre Marius Louw and prop Ox Nche both scored after Kolisi and then, with the Bulls down to 13 men in the last 10 minutes, replacements Rynhardt Jonker and Sanele Nohamba added two more tries to the home side’s tally.

The Bulls improved in the scrums and kept the Sharks scoreless between the 25^th and 74^th minutes and their largely second-string side never lacked for enthusiasm and effort. But they made too many mistakes and ill-discipline was once again a problem as Marius van der Westhuizen was an unsympathetic referee. Which is what SA Rugby are expecting from the officials up north.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Fez Mbatha, penalty try, Siya Kolisi, Marius Louw, Ox Nche, Rynhardt Jonker, Sanele Nohamba. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3), Nohamba.

Bulls – Tries: Nizaam Carr, Dawid Kellerman. Conversion: Morne Steyn.

The Sharks team announced by Sean Everitt on Friday for their preparation fixture against Griquas in Durban on Sunday spans the gamut of experience from captain Jeremy Ward, in his fifth season at Kings Park, to his centre partner Murray Koster, who will don the Black and White for the first time.

But the two most interesting selections are at openside flank and flyhalf.

James Venter has been out of action for the duration of the post-Lockdown season, but the 24-year-old was in superb form a year ago in Super Rugby. The No.6 flank was rightly praised for his ability to cover the field from side-to-side and his skill at the breakdown. And then he got injured, opening the door for Dylan Richardson, who performed the fetcher role so well he was one of the finds of the 2020/21 season.

But Venter is back now and has the chance to remind everyone of his qualities as he adds to the Sharks’ loose forward depth.

“James has got experience and unfortunately he was injured at the start of Super Rugby Unlocked, then he got concussed and then he caught Covid. So it was not a happy end-of-season for him. But he will bring leadership and experience and he is, of course, a fantastic rugby player,” Everitt said on Friday.

Manie Libbok can do things on a rugby field that can make a spectator squawk with delight, but all his previous appearances for the Sharks have been at fullback. Now he gets to call the shots at flyhalf, his opportunity coming as Curwin Bosch, one of the heroes of the last season, gets a well-deserved break. How Libbok handles the pressure of an abrasive Griquas defence in his face, as opposed to the space he gets at fullback, will be interesting to see.

“Manie was signed as a utility player and we actually didn’t expect him to play so many games at fullback, but Aphelele Fassi got injured. And then when Manie was meant to be getting a run as a replacement flyhalf against Griquas in Kimberley last year in Super Rugby Unlocked, Anthony Volmink got injured and he played fullback again.

“But flyhalf is Manie’s favourite position and he’s trained very well there, it’s just with Curwin in such good form he never got a chance. But last year against the Hurricanes, Curwin missed the game because of a family bereavement and we struggled without him because we haven’t really been able to build a second flyhalf who can challenge him,” Everitt explained.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Jeremy Ward (C), Murray Koster, Anthony Volmink, Manie Libbok, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, JJ vd Mescht, Michael Kumbirai, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench – Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuka Mchunu, John-Hubert Meyer, Reniel Hugo, Mpilo Gumede, Jaden Hendrikse, Jordan Chait, Thaakir Abrahams.