Sharks could spring Spedding surprise
6 Feb 2006
Dick Muir may give Scott Spedding the No 10 jersey for their vital Super 14 opener against the Chiefs on Saturday.
Muir has two options. One, he can play Percy Montgomery at flyhalf and JP Pietersen at fullback. Two, he can give Spedding a Super 14 debut, pick Monty at fullback and play Pietersen on the wing. Option two could get the nod, simply because Brent Russell is still injured, which leaves Muir with fewer options at fullback.
Spedding excelled for the Sharks B-team in their warm-up matches against the Bulls and Cats. In Sun City, the former Lions Craven Week star held his nerve to kick a last-minute match-winning penalty, and he scored two tries in Rustenburg a few days later.
Muir proved during the Currie Cup – when he selected Waylon Murran, Dusty Noble and Pietersen – that he is not afraid to back his youngsters.
“With the youth policy paying off, we now have a number of very special youngsters to choose from,” Muir told the SuperSport Zone. “A lot of these guys no-one would have heard of. Among them are Craig Burdon, a centre from Maritzburg College, who did really well, and then others were Scott Speding and [scrumhalf] Scott Mathie, [fullback] Greg Goosen, [centre] Brad Barrett.”
However, Muir admits his youth policy could backfire. “Our youth could be a big plus for us, but of course if you look at it another way, it could be a negative in that obviously these guys lack Super 14 experience and in that sense it is a bit of a gamble to select them.”
71 Comments
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6 Feb 2006, 11:54 am
vleis… spill the beans, china!
6 Feb 2006, 11:57 am
robd,go to wordpress.org,they give all the codes for all smileys,but,you must download their newest version,takes a couple of minutes,and then you are smiling!!!:lol:
6 Feb 2006, 12:09 pm
back to the rugger – sharks have nothing to lose by giving spedding a go. he’s a specialist flyhalf and apparently a supreme talent. the kiwis seem to have no problems throwing the youngsters in and sometimes they’re naive enough to not feel the pressure. can’t wait to see the sharks backs in a few years – pienaar, spedding, barret, murray, pieterson, noble, cedric – enough talent! hope they’re still playing in the S14, that’s all.
6 Feb 2006, 12:27 pm
I like this Spedding. He might be the Sharks surprise of the season.
6 Feb 2006, 12:35 pm
Sorry for this, but I just have to give these little smiley efforts a test drive
6 Feb 2006, 12:39 pm
6 Feb 2006, 12:42 pm
>>
he should JP a shot at no.15. keep percy at 10, and no need to use spedding just yet. i think this percy is more effective at 10, and JP is a find at 15 [reminds me of juba]. give him a good run there. then we will see the youth policy paying huge dividends, mr muir!…
and why would we want to slot him [JP] on the wing as an option? he’s a thinker. you might as well put ME on the wing, cos this guy’s gonna light up the tournament, if you ask me.
6 Feb 2006, 12:43 pm
>>
and one more thing:
6 Feb 2006, 12:50 pm
I think JP is injured…
6 Feb 2006, 12:51 pm
>>roddylan
surely you jest
6 Feb 2006, 12:55 pm
nope – ““We do have a few injuries at the moment, but hopefully they are not too serious. Among the players we will be nursing a bit before we name our team for the Chiefs game are Brent Russell, Waylon Murray, Cedric Mkhize, Craig Davidson and Odwa Ndungane. JP Pietersen is also injured, which is a great shame because he is a very special player.â€?” **** Muir on http://www.superrugby.co.za
6 Feb 2006, 12:58 pm
Just place your mouse on an existing smiley to see what is typed to generate it!
6 Feb 2006, 12:58 pm
>>robdylan
oh crepe.
well, i’m sure we have the talent in this year’s squad.
can’t wait for the weekend!
6 Feb 2006, 12:59 pm
6 Feb 2006, 13:09 pm
SS – we should manage that. We can definitely take the Reds, Force and Cheetahs at home. We’ll win one match away (we have to – possibly against the Canes). We do well at Ellis park as well.
Comment by robdylan : February 6, 2006 @ 10:24 am
So Rob- putting money on The Cheetahs game?
6 Feb 2006, 13:16 pm
OO – I’m brave, not stupid!
6 Feb 2006, 13:25 pm
Wasn’t spedding a vaalie originally?
This is the good thing about the sharks, they are not afraid to try new things and use an attacking flyhalf. sounds like he carved the cats to pieces in the warm-up game.
again this is dissapointing from a cats perspective tho, would much rather have seen this fella than snyman, sounds like the kind of precosious spark needed at 10 to ignite players like Fourie, willemse and jantjies.
6 Feb 2006, 14:43 pm
Cab
Spedding played schools rugby in the Vaal ( craven week – see his stats on supersport zone
http://www.superschools.co.za/PlayerFixtureResults.asp?PlayerID=14706&StartYear=2001&sportCategory=SUPERSCHOOLS/SCHOOLSRUGBY
he was not considered good enough to make any senior teams there in 2005 and he took his chance when offered it at the Sharks.
6 Feb 2006, 15:12 pm
thanks yossarian, interesting reading, looks like the boy is a try scoring machine. Quite a decent size apparantrly too, which should suit JW.
6 Feb 2006, 16:07 pm
Robdylan, I read that he is 1.85/95kg & an run. He seems bigger than LEM & i BELIEVE this boy is the biz. I did hear a whisper that the SHARKS bought him from GAUTENG & the price whispered was r500000.
I cant verify that & the guy telling the story said it was a FORWARD, whith the name Spedding, so the “leak” could be talking through his nose.?
I am interested to know if the SAMOANS count as “black” for the unofficial quota’s. I dont mean any malice at all, merely curious.
We have 4 Samoans here now, all test players, a hooker, lock/8th man, centre, & a wing with the biggest thoghs in rugby – he weighs 114kg. Bit we can only have 2 internationals in our squad, so when Brown gets here [ if he does] then it will probably be FARANI [8TH MAN - 120 kg/1.95m]
who get’s the nod.
6 Feb 2006, 17:20 pm
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