Handre Pollard (long term injury), Lukhanyo Am (aggravated the knee injury he just recovered from) and Lood de Jager (struggling with an undisclosed illness) have been left out of the World Cup squad. Am’s misfortune opens the door for Andre Esterhuizen. Very stoked that Grant Williams made the cut and I feel for Thomas du Toit who lost out.
(more…)Coach Rienaber is giving a number of his fringe players a chance to stake a claim for the WC squad. Hopefully this group will manage to put up a better effort than the abysmal showing by the more first choice players at Ellis Park.
(more…)Coach Rienaber has selected Malcolm Marx to start with the out of sorts Bongi Mbonambi set to make an impact from the bench. However he has left RG Snyman on the bench with Marvin Orie (who played pretty well against the Ozzies but not in the same league) getting another start. Trevor Nyakane will get a chance later in the game to make his case to be the utility prop in the squad.
Manie Libbok is back at 10 (just much more comfortable than Damian Willemse) and is partnered by Grant Williams (really stoked for Grant as it means his chances of making the World Cup squad is looking better by the day).
(more…)Coach Nienaber has selected 10 players of the group sent ahead to New Zealand, with the rest made up from players that featured against the Wobblies. Having Grant Williams on the bench (can play at wing) allows him to go with another 6-2 split on the bench.
(more…)The Sharks will start the URC with four games in Europe = the first two games against top Irish sides Munster and Leinster.
The Sharks will be without most of their current Boks (due to the RWC). So will the Irish sides be stripped of Irish internationals, but their second tier players fit more seamlessly into their teams and playing style while there is a huge difference in the Sharks with Boks and without.
(more…)Coach Nienaber has split his squad for the Rugby Championship with 14 players leaving for New Zealand this week and the remainder staying behind for the test against the Wallabies at Loftus.
Jean Kleyn will make his debut for the Boks partnering with Marvin Orie with RG Snyman on the bench.
(more…)The Cell C Shark will be going for a third consecutive victory against the defending Currie Cup champions Airlink Pumas. To try and achieve this the Sharks coach reverted to mostly tried and tested Currie Cup players.
(more…)Joey Mongalo has pretty much rested the bulk of his players used over the last couple of games, and introduced a couple of URC players plus a few others who have not featured recently.
(more…)Joey Mongale has again made some rotational changes for the game against the Lions. Khwezi Mona, Fez Mbatha and Henco Venter start in place of Dian Bleurer, Dameon Venter and Celimpilo Gumede who all drop out of the squad. Tiaan Fourie, Alwayno Visagie and Aphelele Fassi start in place of Bradley Davids, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Marnus Potgieter who all drop to the bench. Kerron van Vuuren comes into the squad onto the bench.
(more…)The Cell C Sharks will travel to Middle Earth aka Northern Free State to face the Griffons in Welkom on Friday afternoon. A bonus point victory might result in the Sharks topping the overall log.
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