Ken Borland

It will be all change for the Sharks in both halfback positions as they begin their United Rugby Championship campaign overseas, following the announcement on Friday of their touring squad that is without Lionel Cronje but includes two scrumhalves on loan from the Free State.

The 32-year-old Cronje was on a short-term loan to the Sharks from Toyota Verblitz in Japan for the duration of the Currie Cup and his arrival saw coach Sean Everitt shift Curwin Bosch from flyhalf to fullback.

But Cronje’s departure means Bosch is likely to return to the number 10 jersey in which Everitt backed him so strongly before the Currie Cup. Boeta Chamberlain is the only other specialist flyhalf in the squad.

Veteran Springbok Ruan Pienaar has returned to the Sharks on loan from the Cheetahs and has moved to flyhalf quite often during games for Free State, but with the Sharks suffering an injury crisis at scrumhalf, Pienaar is likely to be backing up Sanele Nohamba. Tian Meyer has also made the trip from Bloemfontein to Durban on loan.

Everitt will be pleased to have locks Hyron Andrews and Ruben van Heerden back from injury, which will add depth to a crucial position that already features Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets and Reniel Hugo.

Eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi will lead a squad that will relish taking on some fresh opposition, having butted heads many times back home with the Bulls and taking a severe beating in the Currie Cup final last weekend.

“The boys are up for the challenge, we have some experienced players who have played in the Pro16 before and have had a taste of European conditions, and we have coaching staff who have coached at the highest level. We’re all confident that we can do well overseas, we’ve taken a young squad mixed with some older heads with experience.
“It will be exciting to see what these guys can deliver against opposition that we don’t see too often, nor play against. The boys are excited about experiencing a new competition, the URC is a tough tournament that brings in new challenges and different opposition, but the guys are up for the challenge after a very good Currie Cup and a good year,” Everitt said.

Squad: Anthony Volmink, Yaw Penxe, Thaakir Abrahams, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Jeremy Ward, Murray Koster, Rynhardt Jonker, Curwin Bosch, Boeta Chamberlain, Sanele Nohamba, Ruan Pienaar, Tian Meyer, Phepsi Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Thembelani Bholi, Celimpilo Gumede, Dylan Richardson, James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Hyron Andrews, Le Roux Roets, Reniel Hugo, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Khutha Mchunu, Lourens Adriaanse, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, Khwezi Mona, Kerron van Vurren, Fez Mbatha, Dan Jooste.

The return of Jeandre Rudolph to the Cheetahs team turned around their Currie Cup fortunes in midweek and the loose forward was here, there and everywhere in their victory over Western Province in Bloemfontein, causing the Sharks to effectively pick two openside flanks for when they travel to meet the Free Staters on Saturday.

The 100kg Rudolph gave a glorious display of chasing after the ball, he was plucky in defence and carried the ball with authority as well, confirming earlier impressions that he is one of the Cheetahs’ stars. His ability to strangle teams at the breakdown and the effective partnership he forms with Junior Pokomela and Aidon Davis marks him out as a key man for the Sharks to contend with.

And the Sharks responded on Thursday by naming both Dylan Richardson and James Venter in their starting loose trio.

“We’re fortunate to have two guys who can fetch and they are both in world-class form at the moment, they both did exceptionally well against the British and Irish Lions. They’re both very good ball-carriers and have a very high work-rate, so we decided to experiment a bit with Henco Venter out with concussion and Thembelani Bholi and Celimpilo Gumede needing to cover lock.

“The Cheetahs are playing better now that they have some players back from injury and Jeandre Rudolph had a massive game against Western Province. You never go to Bloemfontein and get easy points, I asked the guys how many of them had won against Free State in Bloemfontein before and not many of them had, and none of them more than once,” coach Sean Everitt said on Thursday.

Everitt said his young Sharks team had learnt a lot in their two matches against the British and Irish Lions and he hoped this would result in increased maturity, leading to his team playing like full-grown adults in the Currie Cup and not the kids many of them are in terms of age.

“We’ve created a great vibe in the camp by giving everyone an opportunity against the Lions and we now need to build on that experience we gained and take it into this weekend. We want to play at high intensity for 80 minutes. We need to put in a performance similar to the one in the first half of the second game against the Lions, because the Cheetahs are desperate to win the Currie Cup and they have a point to prove.

“We’ve had two weeks rest, although one of those weeks was pretty tough mentally with food shortages, but the focus now is on ourselves and our intensity going forward. We have seven Currie Cup games left – this one against the Cheetahs and then the second round of six matches – and hopefully from now on there will be no more disruptions,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Dylan Richardson, James Venter, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench: Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Lourens Adriaanse, Thembelani Bholi, Celimpilo Gumede, Cameron Wright, Lionel Cronje, Jeremy Ward.

The Sharks are currently in fourth position on the Currie Cup log and notwithstanding the Free State/Western Province match being the showpiece clash of the weekend, when Griquas rock up at Kings Park on Saturday afternoon, the home side will be involved in just as much of a do-or-die clash as the two teams in Bloemfontein.

The Free State Cheetahs are the team in fifth, one point behind the Sharks, so obviously the KwaZulu-Natalians cannot afford to slip up against the bottom side on the log. Especially since they play Western Province at Newlands in the last round of fixtures. Western Province have their own pressures because they could finish anywhere from first to fifth, and out of the semi-finals, depending on their results in the next fortnight.

Just to add to the pressure on the Sharks’ they are currently dealing with a Covid outbreak and with some players coming back and others testing positive, coach Sean Everitt has been forced to change the majority of his team over the last few weeks. And it has shown in heavy defeats on the road to the Lions and the Cheetahs.

Everitt was doing his best to paint a positive picture on Thursday.

“This team has had a good week’s preparation, they are very tough on themselves and they have high standards, they know they have not delivered the standards of performance we expect over the last two weeks. But it’s easily identifiable what went wrong against the Cheetahs and we know Griquas are always a massive challenge as well.

“They always run teams close and I feel they were unfortunate not to beat the Lions and Western Province. We have no doubt what they will bring, they are desperate as well and obviously motivated to knock over one of the big four. So we are under no illusions, we know it is going to be a physical battle and a big duel at set-piece. But our team is determined to bounce back,” Everitt said on Thursday.

Desperation, motivation, physicality and set-piece prowess are also all the sort of properties the Pumas, those other ‘minnows’ of the Currie Cup, will bring to their match against the Lions on Saturday, especially since they are playing in Nelspruit.

While the Lions are rightfully wary of their neighbours, they are also targeting a bonus point win because that could make a massive difference in their hunt for a home semi-final. Ivan van Rooyen’s team are currently in third place, two points behind Western Province and six behind log-leaders the Bulls.

Momentum is with the Lions and they are also quite fortunate in terms of player availability, with in-form prop Sti Sithole probably their only first-choice player who is out injured at the moment.

The Cheetahs are famous for the expansive, running rugby they can bring, but Sharks coach Sean Everitt has warned that the Free Staters also have some industrial-strength forward power that his team will need to combat in their Super Rugby Unlocked match at Kings Park on Friday night.

Playing at a high tempo is something the Sharks are comfortable with, but matching big, powerful packs in the set-pieces and the collisions has been something they have struggled with at times this year, and the Cheetahs will surely be aiming to use physicality as a weapon on Friday night.

“I think the Cheetahs are going to pose the same challenge up front as the Pumas and Bulls did. They have a lot of synergy in their lineout and scrum, so those are an obvious threat then. Plus with Frans Steyn at 12 it gives them a different dimension in terms of his kicking, carrying and his running from set-piece. We’re going to have to keep them out with really aggressive defence.

“The Cheetahs also like to maul a lot, from all areas of the field, but fortunately JJ van der Mescht was outstanding for us in that department against the Pumas – he pretty much stopped three mauls on his own. But I think the break will have motivated the Cheetahs, they won’t be happy about just getting two points against the Lions and they’ll be raring to go after that abandoned game and a bye,” Everitt said.

Despite dominating the Super Rugby competition at the start of the year, the Sharks have been taking baby steps since the return-to-play. Everitt showed patience by not prematurely throwing his toys out of the pram, but he believes his team are now settled and have laid the platform to now improve every week. He does not expect to see any more signs of rust from the Sharks.

“We’re no longer finding our feet, we’ve been together for a while now. Our confidence is back and we should be improving weekly now. I’m expecting a high-tempo game and we need guys who are going to have an impact, and I’m certain our bench will bring that and give us the opportunity to change the game if necessary. There’s healthy competition in our squad.

“But this competition as a whole is really strong and everyone has strengthened their squads since the start of the year. It’s been a great platform for South African rugby and every one of the our players knows they have the opportunity to get noticed now. We’ve settled in well now,” Everitt said.

Teams

Sharks: Manie Libbok, Yaw Penxe, Jeremy Ward, 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, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Grant Williams, Werner Kok.

Cheetahs: Clayton Blommetjies, Malcolm Jaer, William Small-Smith, Francois Steyn, Rosko Specman, Tian Schoeman, Tian Meyer, Aidon Davis, Junior Pokomela (captain), Andisa Ntsila, JP du Preez, Carl Wegner, Luan de Bruin, Reinach Venter, Charles Marais. Replacements – Jacques du Toit, Boan Venter, Khutha Mchunu, Oupa Mohoje, Jeandré Rudolph, Ruben de Haas, Reinhardt Fortuin, Chris Smit.

Kickoff: 19h00