The Sharks Boks have rejoined the squad after being left at home for the Challenge Cup. JPP has decided to again select Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit on the bench. Selecting Ox on the bench has back fired against Australia and against the Stormers. Hopefully it will be third time lucky for the Sharks. That said the reserve front row scrummed very well against the heavier Lyon pack. Jordan Hendrikse has picked up an injury against Lyon – so Gianni Lombard will have to run the show from 10.
(more…)It is clear the Sharks do not plan to take the EPCR seriously and is using it to blood second string players and new signings. I understand leaving some of the Boks with recent heavy workload (e.g. Ox, Andre, Ethan) at home to get a break, but Thomas and Edwill did not really play that many Bok games. Likewise Vincent Koch, Jason Jenkins, Jaden Hendrikse and Vincent Tshituka (all on tour) could add a lot of grunt and experience in this game. Glad to see both Emile van Heerden and Jaco Williams back in the squad.
(more…)JPP has selected the strongest available team for the game in Cape Town. The Stormers have also selected all their available Boks including Wilco Louw. The scrum battle between Ox and Louw will be worth the ticket price on its own. The Sharks Boks will have the slight advantage that they already have played one game for their URC team.
(more…)JPP has selected his Boks for the game against Leinster. Thomas du Toit starts at loosehead with Ox Nche on the bench. Andre Esterhuizen captains the team from 12 with Edwill on the wing. Eben Etzebeth and Ethan Hooker features on the bench.
Loading with returning Boks has not always worked for the Sharks. The Boks have just been through a challenging series up there with Lions and World Cup levels plus actually traveling around the globe. I am not sure how much these guys will still have in the tank.
(more…)Nick Hatton will captain the Sharks for the URC opening game against the Ospreys. New signings Darrien Landsberg and Suleiman Hartzenberg feature in the starting lineup with Ivan van Zyl on the bench. Vusi Moyo will run the show from 10 with Jaden Hendrikse next to him. The Sharks plan to get the maximum out of Luan Giliomee before he joins the Bulls in December. Exciting but still raw talent Zekhethelo Siyaya is on the bench.
(more…)Rassie has started to rate Andre Esterhuizen much higher of recent. So much so that he has named him as captain of the Boks against Australia in Perth – even though Handre Pollard and Eben Etzebeth are both in the starting team.
The team has been rotated heavily but Rassie has still kept his best front row plus Lood de Jager and Jasper Wiese on the bench for just in case. I would have much rather had Cameron Hanekom starting at 8 than Marco van Staden. The Aussies have some very fast loose forwards with Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson up there with the best jacklers in the world.
(more…)JPP has mixed up his squad for the warm-up against the Lions on Friday. The Hendrikse brothers are back running the show with only Luan Giliomee, .Phepsi Buthelezi, Corne Rahl retaining their jerseys from last week and Litelihle Bester starting but moving to wing. It does not look like the match will be televised.
(more…)Rassie has kept the changes to a minimum with Damian Willemse coming back in for the injured Cheslin Kolbe and Morné van den Berg swapping places with Cobus Reinach. I would have liked Manie Libbok at 10 – the Bok attack just looked so much better with him running the show. Van den Berg really tried to cover every blade of grass (in attack and defense) when he came on – will be interesting to see how he paces himself over a longer period.
(more…)Interestingly the Sharks keep including Luan Giliomee in teams even though he set to join the Bulls in December. In the past they would have allowed an early release – now they are making full use of him while short on full back cover. The game is in George on Friday night and will not be televised.
I have not been a fan of Ross Braude but after his recent form in the Currie Cup I would think he deserves a go in the URC team.
(more…)Rassie made only one injury enforced change to the team for the third test. Cheslin Kolbe moves to full back while Kurt-Lee Arendse comes back into the team at wing.
This is in effect another must win game for the Boks as they would not want to lose the SA leg of the tour to the All Blacks. The Springboks showed major improvement from the first game. The maul worked really well, they did manage to get points from their 22 visits, Eben and co disrupted their lineout a number of times, the Boks won the high ball battle (Ethan Hooker was outstanding) and the Bok defense mostly ensured that the All Blacks did not have their own way on attack.
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