Ken Borland

The arrival of tighthead prop Wiehahn Herbst at Kings Park on a short-term deal perhaps shows where the Sharks’ focus is this week as they prepare to take on the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday in their opening Rainbow Cup match.

With an all-Springbok front row of Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe believed to be lined up to play the Sharks, countering the scrum threat that Western Province will pose is obviously a starting point in the planning for coach Sean Everitt and his team.

Thomas du Toit, also a World Cup winning Springbok, is the first-choice tighthead at the moment, but the drop off in quality when the Sharks’ first-choice front row does not play was one of the worrying aspects for Everitt last season.

Herbst, who was at training on Tuesday, was a stalwart of the Sharks side between 2009 and 2014, making 40 Super Rugby appearances and 52 in the Currie Cup. The well-travelled 32-year-old has also played for the Bulls and Lions and has turned out 80 times for Ulster, earning a reputation as a powerful scrummager.

Which Du Toit acknowledged on Tuesday is exactly what the Sharks are going to need against the Stormers on Saturday.

“The Stormers are always a quality side and seem to be in a better space now than previously. They’re a fantastic side with a great pack and good game-plans, they are definitely still going to be a proper challenge to play against. They never shy away from the physical side, they look to dominate in the scrums and mauls.

“It’s a nice challenge to come up against the first-choice Springbok front row because you always want to measure yourself against the best and this is an awesome opportunity to do that,” Du Toit said.

The former Western Province U16 and U18 player said the Sharks have also noticed that Western Province have worked hard on their all-round game.

“We anticipate they’re going to bring both sides of the game, we’ve seen them play more in the preparation series. So we’re ready for both – the physical game and a more ball-in-hand, all-out attacking game. But we always stay the same, there’s a certain DNA at the Sharks which we always try to live out on the field,” Du Toit said.

Veteran flyhalf Morne Steyn says the circle is now complete as he contemplates leading the Bulls into another Currie Cup final as they prepare to take on the Lions in the semi-finals at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The 36-year-old returned to the Bulls last year, having appeared in four previous Currie Cup finals for them and winning in 2006 and 2009, before joining Stade Francais in 2013.

“I never really thought that I would finish my career at the Bulls, but I guess the circle is now closed nicely and I’m looking forward to the semi-final. It feels like my younger days, but a lot of the guys haven’t played in a semi-final before or even in the Currie Cup, so it’s going to be a big day. The big goal is to win on Saturday and all that’s happened before or what comes after, we will sit aside.

“For me it’s just another game and I will take it as that and enjoy every moment. Everyone is ready and it would be stupid for us to change a lot of stuff, we’ve got to do what we did to get into the semi-final, you don’t want to be trying to do what you’re not used to. Otherwise I’ll be trying to keep the other guys calm and will just tell them to enjoy every moment and embrace the pressure of a semi-final,” Steyn said.

As far as the Lions are concerned, Steyn said they are strong up front and have flair in the backs, and can play both a free-flowing game and a more strategic one. And he is particularly looking forward to the flyhalf battle with Elton Jantjies, which could have an influence on Springbok selection later this year.

“The Lions have a good pack, exciting backs and a good No.10 who controls the game. We are ready for them to play a running game or a kicking game. Elton controls the game well, he has a good tactical game at flyhalf and I’m looking forward to a lekker challenge against him. If you don’t want to be the best then you should rather stop playing rugby, and obviously I want to be better than my opponent.

“If you’re playing in South Africa then you always dream of playing for the Springboks and every game is a chance to show what I can do. You always want to add to your Tests. But my game-plan is not to try and bring magic, there are guys around me who can do that. Discipline is going to be a big focus for both teams, but we have showed our character – until the final whistle, the game is not over for us,” Steyn, who has played 66 Tests for the Springboks, said.

The Bulls take on the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night in what should be a mouthwatering Super Rugby Unlocked game as both teams strive to gain momentum in the competition.

The Bulls struggled to victory in Pretoria over lowly Griquas and then lost to the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, while the Sharks, who were magnificent at the start of the year, have battlled to reach the same heights, losing badly to Jake White’s team on SuperFan Saturday at Loftus Versfeld and then meandering to a narrow win over the Lions in Durban.

Here are the areas to marvel over as Captain America takes on Black Panther:

The Sharks are out for revenge after losing 49-28 to the Bulls a month ago & have promised a different mindset – “We’re going with a totally different mindset. We took a squad of 30 that day and we wanted to look at combinations and youngsters who had shown progress to measure where they were. But it’s back to business now, we have a settled squad and a much more experienced team, with lessons learnt on that SuperFan day. It will certainly be a different ball game,” coach Sean Everitt said.

There will be pace & power aplenty in the loose forward battle as Vermeulen, Louw & Van Staden clash with Notshe, Buthelezi & Venter – “I’ve seen Elrigh Louw train for a while now and as soon as he arrived with us he showed such good energy. He’s young but confident, he loves to carry the ball and defend. Plus he’s like a sponge with how much he has picked up already. He’s an exciting player and I’m looking forward to playing alongside him.

“I played together for a couple of seasons with Sikhumbuzo Notshe at the Stormers and he has grown a lot as an eighthman. He was one of the star players in Super Rugby before Lockdown and I know what he can give, I’m looking forward to a really good match-up,” Duane Vermeulen said.

Both coaches, White & Everitt, are expecting their sides to find some rhythm on Saturday – “I would like to see more cohesion, but the guys have not played much together and we have been making changes to the team. I would just like to see more rhythm in attack and defence and the team that gets that right the quickest, that hits their straps first, will create the most problems. So far this competition has been very stop-start with lots of mistakes slowing everything down,” White said.

“Getting one’s rhythm back sometimes takes time and we were unfortunate that after SuperFan Saturday we had a bye with the Green and Gold game, we played the Lions and then we had another bye. It did not help our continuity, but I expect this weekend to see a performance from Super Rugby level. There’s no more time to hang around and wait to hit form, and I hope to see a spectacle on Saturday night,” Evertt said.

A tremendous tussle in the scrums with Marcel van der Merwe starting at tighthead for the Bulls for the first time since 2016, with Trevor Nyakane on the bench – “Marcel had surgery on his ankle but he has responded really well and now is his opportunity to showcase what he can do, he’s also a Springbok. Having played abroad he would have picked up different things and as a scrummager you learn quickly in the French league. Plus we have Trevor coming off the bench and everyone knows what he can provide,” Vermeulen said.

“When I coached Montpellier, Marcel played for Toulon and they had one of the strongest packs. He’s now had three or four weeks of practice, the conditioning team have worked hard on him and he’ll be right for Saturday. I’ve also been very impressed with Jacques van Rooyen at loosehead, Springbok scrum coach Daan Human was here this week to see him scrum and I think he was impressed too. I thought Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane would be away with the Springboks and Jacques can scrum both sides and is an unbelievable team man,” White said.

Teams

Bulls:  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, Marcel van der Merwe, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements – Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp, Trevor Nyakane, Sintu Manjezi, Arno Botha, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Sharks: Manie Libbok, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Marius Louw, Werner Kok, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Sikumbuzo Notshe, Phendulani Buthelezi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Dylan Richardson, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Mzamo Majola, John-Hubert Meyer, JJ van der Mescht, Henco Venter, Grant Williams, Jeremy Ward, Yaw Penxe.

Kickoff: 7pm.

With 13 players missing from the 23-man squad that beat the Stormers in their last SuperRugby game back in mid-March, Sharks coach Sean Everitt will be anxious that his team’s level of performance does not plummet into the depths of a virtual Kloof Gorge when they travel to Pretoria to take on the Bulls on SuperFan Saturday.

Everitt named his 30-man squad for the trip on Thursday and he will be leaning heavily on established combinations like Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit in the front row, locks Ruben van Heerden and Hyron Andrews, halfbacks Sanele Nohamba and Curwin Bosch, and Jeremy Ward and Lukhanyo Am in midfield.

“Saturday’s match is all about preparation, because we’ve been out for six months we need to reinstall and revise our game-plan. We need to make sure everyone understands it and we’re taking a few youngsters up with us to see where they are too in terms of fitting into our system. I’ll be looking at our tempo, accuracy and conditioning because we don’t know where we are right now with those.

“The players we have brought in suit the way we want to play. A guy like Manie Libbok is multiskilled, really versatile and has dangerous x-factor. He offers something in the same mould as Bosch and Aphelele Fassi when we play him at fullback. Werner Kok is also a workhorse and his work-rate epitomises the energy and enthusiasm we want to play with. He’ll start on the wing and then we’ll play him a bit at centre in the second half,” Everitt said on Thursday.

After such a promising season was washed down the basin by Covid-19, the Sharks are in a rebuilding phase and several new faces have the chance to establish themselves in the senior team. Saturday’s match at Loftus Versfeld is an important step in testing the depth of the squad.

“We were happy where we were, but we had been very fortunate from an injury point of view and were reaping the benefits of a long pre-season in which we did a lot of work on the changes to our game. We were on a roll, but dwelling in the past is not something I do, we are looking forward. It was sad for guys like Louis Schreuder, Tyler Paul and Andre Esterhuizen, who were in their last season with the Sharks.

“But it’s all a clean slate now, it’s a whole different competition because the Bulls have done some really good recruiting and the Lions too. We’re going back to the drawing board to see how we can improve. We’ve had some bad luck with injuries and we are missing some quality players like Fassi, Tambwe and Nkosi, but we started preparing a while ago with two squads,” Everitt said.

Players not considered for this weekend’s squad due to injury were fullback Fassi, loose forwards Henco and James Venter, hooker Kerron van Vuuren and wings Madosh Tambwe and Sbu Nkosi.

Squad: Ox Nche, Mzamo Majola, Dylan Richardson, Dan Jooste, Thomas du Toit, John-Hubert Meyer, Ruben van Heerden, JJ van der Mescht, Hyron Andrews, Emile van Heerden, Evan Roos, Adam Mountfort, Celimpilo Gumede, Tera Mtembu, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Phepsi Buthelezi, Grant Williams, Sanele Nohamba, Jaden Hendrikse, Curwin Bosch, Jordan Chait, Muller du Plessis, Caleb Dingaan, Jeremy Ward, Marius Louw, Lukhanyo Am, JP Pietersen, Werner Kok, Manie Libbok, Thaakir Abrahams.