Ken Borland

It seems like on an almost hourly basis someone in the media, whether traditional or social, will question the wisdom of the Sharks using Curwin Bosch as their starting flyhalf and for many, Aphelele Fassi’s ankle injury provided an opportunity to shift the mercurial Springbok to fullback and try someone else at No.10.

Fassi has indeed been ruled out of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash with Edinburgh at Kings Park, but the Sharks have elected to keep Bosch at flyhalf and bring Anthony Volmink back into the starting line-up in the No.15 jersey.

“Obviously we did discuss moving Curwin to fullback,” coach Sean Everitt said at their team announcement press conference on Thursday, “but we felt he is getting better every week at flyhalf.

“Anthony is a left-footed kicking option and he has always performed whenever he has put on the Sharks jersey. Overseas he was particularly good against Ospreys.

“So it was quite straightforward in the end. Curwin will be making his fourth start in a row at flyhalf and he has shown some great signs.

“He distributed well against Zebre last weekend and he had a 100% tackle completion rate. We are pleased with his growth at flyhalf,” Everitt said.

But with 23-year-old reserve flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain still learning his trade at this level and Tito Bonilla making some grim, crucial mistakes in the Sharks’ midweek Currie Cup loss to the Free State Cheetahs, Everitt does not have much choice really.

The Sharks are hoping Fassi will be fit for their local derby against the Lions on April 9.

Edinburgh will be the first real big guns of the tournament that the Sharks have met for a while, and whoever wins on Saturday will stay in contact with the top four on the log. Edinburgh are currently fifth in the standings, three points ahead of the sixth-placed Sharks, who have a game in hand.

“There’s a lot at stake because Edinburgh are just ahead of us on the log and the guys are amped,” Everitt said. “Our team has gained confidence from four bonus point victories on the trot.

“I thought it was also a better performance last weekend although we did not finish all the opportunities we created. We’ve had good consistency of selection, which helps.”

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

The Sharks will continue to hide their leading URC players away from doing dual duty in the Currie Cup even though they are hosting the table-topping Free State Cheetahs in a vital match at Kings Park on Wednesday, but one star player who will feature, albeit off the bench, is Dylan Richardson.

Following their defeat to a star-studded Bulls team last week, the Sharks have slipped to third place on the log and are four points behind the unbeaten Cheetahs. But while the Bulls have regularly targeted key Currie Cup games by fielding several URC starters, the KwaZulu-Natalians are following a different policy.

But Richardson, named as a replacement loose forward on Tuesday, will certainly bring some quality. The 23-year-old Scottish international is a bit of a hoodlum on the field and he has already been bringing an edge to the Sharks’ training sessions following his return from a stress fracture in his leg.

“Dylan has been out for a while with a succession of unfortunate injuries and we can see he is really champing at the bit,” Sharks Currie Cup coach Etienne Fynn said on Tuesday.

“We’ve had a bit of niggle in training recently and it has been driven by him mostly,” Fynn added with a smile.

The feisty Richardson, who made his debut for Scotland towards the end of last year, will bring dynamism and power to the Sharks team and targets the breakdown hard, all valuable assets against a free-flowing Free State side.

As for the Sharks’ decision to not load their side – they also have a United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh on Saturday evening – Fynn says the union’s management are rating the Currie Cup players just as highly as the URC regulars.

“I told the forwards today after a lineout session that not one of them is not good enough to be picked for the URC,” Fynn said. “We have a decent side with quality individuals.

“The opposition does not matter, we still have proper rugby players like Dian Bleuler, Hyron Andrews, James Venter and Fez Mbatha. We just try to field our most competitive team every time.

“Because of the URC, and playing two competitions at once, sometimes players have to double up and then it’s tough. The Free State Cheetahs are privileged to have consistency of selection.

“So we decided to go with the same pack as against the Bulls last week. That way you have the understanding of what the guy next to you is doing. The Cheetahs are really polished in the opposition 22 and that comes with playing together,” Fynn said.

Sharks team – Jordan Chait, Yaw Penxe, Jeremy Ward, Ethan Fisher, Curwin Gertse, Tito Bonilla, Cameron Wright (v/c), Celimpilo Gumede, Thembelani Bholi, James Venter (c), Hyron Andrews, Emile van Heerden, Wiehahn Herbst, Fez Mbatha, Dian Bleuler. Replacements: Dan Jooste, Braam Reyneke, Lourens Adriaanse, Jeandre Labuschagne, Dylan Richardson, OJ Noah, Sanele Nohamba, Lloyd Koster.

South Africa’s pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi have the reputation of being ruthless sharks in their own waters but they were rather toothless in the first ODI against Bangladesh at SuperSport Park on Friday night, leading captain Temba Bavuma to admit that “conversations will have to be had”.

Having won the toss and elected to bowl first, Bavuma had to wait until the 22^nd over until the first wicket came, and even then it was delivered by medium-pacer Andile Phehlukwayo.

Given an opening-stand platform of 95, Shakib Al-Hasan and Yasir Ali were able to make merry and take Bangladesh to 314/7, their highest ever score in South Africa.

In stark contrast to the Proteas attack, Bangladesh pacemen Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam were able to take early wickets and South Africa fell 38 runs short despite the heroics of David Miller (79) and Rassie van der Dussen (86).

“In the first 10-15 overs in the field I felt we were in control, but in the middle overs we were not on-point in terms of our plans or adjusting to conditions,” Bavuma said after the first ever home loss to Bangladesh.

“The wickets were what was lacking and that was always going to make it tough. It meant Bangladesh always had an in-batter who was able to take risks. We conceded nearly 180 runs in the last 20 overs.

“That meant Bangladesh then had momentum going into our innings. Conversations will have to be had because the seamers we had can all take wickets, that’s generally our game-plan,” Bavuma said.

Given how comprehensively his team beat the Proteas in the opening game of the three-match series, Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal was hardly being boastful when he said “We can win the series. We have to give ourselves every chance.”

Bavuma knows the Proteas have to show their pride in a do-or-die Pink Day encounter at the Wanderers on Sunday if they are to avoid an embarrassing series loss coming off their 3-0 win over India.

“Sunday is now simply a must-win match and we have to up our game in all departments. If we do that then things like Super League points will look after themselves.

“Just because we are playing against Bangladesh, it is no guarantee that the points will just come to us,” Bavuma said.

No-one should be left in any doubt about that after the goings-on in Centurion on Friday night.

The Sharks will be looking to come to the boil quickly against Zebre Parma in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Saturday evening, with coach Sean Everitt identifying this as a key aspect if they are to emulate what the Stormers did to the Italian side last weekend in Stellenbosch.

Zebre were hammered 55-7 by the Stormers, who raced into a 21-0 lead after just 11 minutes. The Sharks, meanwhile, have been steadily climbing the URC log after three successive bonus point wins.

“It was really important that Western Province played exceptionally well in the first 30 minutes and put Zebre to bed,” Everitt said. “So Zebre are not as bad a side as that final scoreline suggests.

“They ran Ospreys really close a couple of weeks ago, they are unpredictable and dangerous and we have got to be accurate with our execution from the start.

“We’ve got a full house of points from our last three games but it’s not about the points, it’s about our performance and the performance has not been where we want it to be.

“So our focus is on rectifying that and then we’ll be able to stay in the top eight and be a threat in the quarterfinals,” Everitt said.

Being on a winning run has allowed Everitt to gently curate his personnel and he will be hoping the presence of outside centre Ben Tapuai and scrumhalf Grant Williams in the starting backline assists their attacking efforts, which have not always been on-par with the sterling displays of their pack.

Against lowly Zebre, flyhalf Curwin Bosch also really needs to find his spark in directing the attacking play.

Other areas of focus which Everitt highlighted are:

• Stopping the good Zebre maul
• Making sure they have good width on defence to handle Zebre’s penchant for attacking on both sides of the ruck
• Handling Zebre’s long kicking game, and making good decisions and executing well when it comes to counter-attacking off those kicks
• Ensuring there is better accuracy in their own kicking game.