Sharks roll out dual fetchers
6 Mar 2008
Keegan Daniel and Jacques Botes will hope to torment the Blues at the breakdown.
AJ Venter has failed to recover from a leg infection and is replaced by Botes, who had a big impact off the bench against the Bulls last week. Daniel, Man of the Match at Loftus, retains his place.
The duo’s mandate will be to ensure the Blues backline aren’t fed the quick ball they’ve become accustomed to over the first three rounds of the tournament. Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford warned that that sort of service to flyhalf Nick Evans could spell trouble for his side, and Daniel and Botes will be acutely aware of this.
Venter’s loss does rob them of some grunt in the pack, but Daniel and Botes add speed and handling skills that the veteran cannot match.
Great news for the Sharks is that hooker Bismarck du Plessis has recovered from a rib injury that kept him sidelined for a week. Given the lineout troubles the Sharks had, Du Plessis’ return will be a very welcome one. Albert van den Berg replaces retired lock Johan Ackermann while Stefan Terblanche is preferred to Odwa Ndungane on the wing.
Charl McLoed and Steven Sykes come onto the bench.
Sharks - 15 Francois Steyn, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jacques Botes, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Jannie du Plessis.
Subs: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl Mcleod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Odwa Ndungane.
40 Comments
6 Mar 2008, 16:19 pm
Phambili SHARKS!!!
6 Mar 2008, 16:23 pm
Good team – worried about yellow card VD Bergh though.
And where is scrumhalf Scott Mathie?
6 Mar 2008, 16:42 pm
Great Line up. More balanced unit than the one that pipped the Bulls.
*Great front row, strong scrummaging power and good ball carriers ie. Bismarck
*Muller will need to combat flavell in the rough stuff while Albert brings more mobility.
*AJ is not suited to these new laws, he is too cumbersome. Thus, the loose trio that has been picked is more athletic & agile, exactly what you need to counter the Blues at ruck time.
6 Mar 2008, 16:43 pm
Mathie is on the bench for the Wildebeest. No great, loss… he’s pretty ordinary.
When last did Albert get a yellow card?
6 Mar 2008, 16:43 pm
This site is still phucked. What is wrong with you idiots? Can I sell you an hour of my time to fix the problem?
6 Mar 2008, 16:55 pm
If the loose trios for this match are Kankowski, Botes and Daniel up against Williams, Kaino and Collins, then the Blues have a combined height advantage of 18cm and a weight advantage of 35kg. That’s more than considerable.
6 Mar 2008, 17:12 pm
yeah, but pace is more important than bulk now. They changed the rules, remember?
6 Mar 2008, 17:18 pm
Although I want the Sharks to win, whatever combo they put together as a team, I think the Blues are just to freegin hot for them this early in the season, playing these ELV’s.
Come Tjarkies, prove me wrong !
6 Mar 2008, 17:25 pm
IS THIS SITE STILL FUKCED?????
6 Mar 2008, 17:28 pm
7 – Surely you must have seen those Blues loosies run. Kaino is probably quicker than any loose forward we have in SA, except for Spies. And a big fast guy will always beat a small fast guy.
6 Mar 2008, 17:29 pm
Speaking of missing players, what has happened to that Alastair Hargreaves oke? With all the talent he apparently has, surely he must ready for the big time by now? I’m also not an Albert fan – he doesn’t feel like a real lock (old rules or new). Sure, he’s fast & tall, but he has as much grunt as Willie Roos’ poodle. Out with the old…
6 Mar 2008, 17:33 pm
eish if this team gels blues better beware
like i said on sharksworld the sharks need to be agro without being stupid
its a very strong mobile team
good reserve bench too
6 Mar 2008, 17:54 pm
Eish.
If they dont take this, that’s tickets for SA this year
6 Mar 2008, 17:57 pm
Where is Kees Lensing these days?
6 Mar 2008, 18:05 pm
pete he is on the reserve bench for the wildebeest
6 Mar 2008, 18:24 pm
Hargreaves is captaining the Wildebeest.
I reckon there’s no way the Blues trio can compete with Keegan, JB and Kanko for pace. Kaino might be quick, but the other two?
6 Mar 2008, 19:13 pm
lol rob, have you seen that tank nick williams cover the ground, looks like a 120kg gazelle?
am hoping the humidity takes its toll.
6 Mar 2008, 19:42 pm
Scott Mathie is just returning from a shoulder operation which he had at the end of last season.
Good luck to him and lets hope he stays injury free.
6 Mar 2008, 19:53 pm
#7 Except that, the Blues have 6 ball-carrying loosies: mealamu, flavell, haiu, kaino, williams and collins. Thats their main strength, every support player is just as good the ball carrier.
6 Mar 2008, 19:55 pm
I can’t remember when i last saw a white wing
Ps i’m not a racist…just saying
6 Mar 2008, 19:57 pm
dual fetcher is all well and good, but the problem is, Blues have 6 loose forwards. mealamu, haiu, flavell, kaino, collins and williams. 6 into 2 doesnt go.
6 Mar 2008, 20:06 pm
saimone and the sharks only have 2?? think about what ur saying????
fetcher and carrier are 2 different things
carriers for the sharks bj,jannie, bismark, muller , vdberg daniels botes and daniels
the teams all have about the same going for them
its about whos on form and who is gonna take their chances best on the day
6 Mar 2008, 20:07 pm
then ths sharks bench have ball carriers like beast and deysel
6 Mar 2008, 20:11 pm
beast untill 2 years ago was a flank , its all blah blah blah, and the best team on the day will take it
6 Mar 2008, 20:25 pm
Yeah. Why don’t we just not bother playing the game and just give the points to the ******* kiwis already? Losers
6 Mar 2008, 20:54 pm
Where the hell is Kees, that oke is a monster.
6 Mar 2008, 21:19 pm
He’s a plank. All he can do is scrum and he’s not even the best at that anymore
6 Mar 2008, 21:26 pm
Hehehehe Kees is NOT a plank !
He is the whole freegin tree and all the branches !
6 Mar 2008, 22:15 pm
Game of the round for sure. I hope this game is more even than the last blue games but I think that the Blues have targeted this game and the Sharks are going to be run off their feet.
Despite the Bulls winning last year why is it that the Sharks are consistently the most competitive SA team in the comp.
I like them but I think Akld will be too good this weekend.
6 Mar 2008, 22:28 pm
Akld?
7 Mar 2008, 00:13 am
Sharks will take this one, watch.
Adi and Waylon will do it at the death, just watch.
7 Mar 2008, 01:10 am
Dual fetchers is all well and good, but Blues have 6 loosies. Mealamu, Haiu, Flavell, Kaino, Collins and Williams. 6 on 2 is not very equal.
7 Mar 2008, 05:52 am
Hard game to call – the blues are a powerful team, check out the points for and against, 137 to 50; the sharks at the moment look a little off the mark and laboured. But, hopefully they will click and give the blues something better then what they have come against in SA so far!
We are behind in the adoption of these new laws – why did SA Rugby not see this coming and deal with it; we have had a whole trial season to get to grips with the implications of what these rules mean for the game!
7 Mar 2008, 06:54 am
That is one light forward pack. Good luck stopping the blues massive running loose forwards. Sharks are missing an enforcer in there pack. I feel they will struggle in the scrum.
7 Mar 2008, 08:11 am
Deysel should have started in front of Daniel, just to take the edge off the big loosies from the Blues. I think the Sharks are going to miss hard man AJ more than they realise, the kiwis have huge respect for him.
I have a feeling Daniel will get abused tomorrow and will then start playing dirty.
7 Mar 2008, 08:46 am
If I was **** I would try and find another lock someone who is a bit more of an “enforcer” type lock. Someone who can add a bit more weight and strentgh to the pack. Someone to replace Ackers!
It does not matter how strong your frontrow is without at least one strong pushing type lock you will not dominate the set pieces. All the current locks at the Sharks lack weight and strength except for maybe Muller! Mainly because they are still very young!
Speak to Francois van der Merwe! WP have too many locks at the moment which will always lead too the under development of a fringe player.
I’am not sure what the rules are with regards to loaning of players from other franchises but it would make sense if a player who doesn’t get regular game time be permitted to play for another franchise in the interim.
If Francois was given all the right ammunition to succeed I believe he could develop into a great enforcer!
7 Mar 2008, 08:57 am
Last year the Sharks had won 3 from 3 quite ordinary , game 4 was against the Crusaders , everyone remembers what happened in that game
I see history repeating its self , exept this time it’s the other major NZ team
7 Mar 2008, 12:19 pm
wat u idiots mean the sharks only got two loosies…daniel, botes, kankowski, vd berg, beast and deysel used to be flanks!!!
7 Mar 2008, 12:48 pm
I like the loose trio! I would be playing AJ at lock if he wasnt injured! I think Jean Deysel is good too! He is as big as AJ and as fast as Daniel!
8 Mar 2008, 05:38 am
Re: #22 and #23 sharks_lover . I wouldnt class those as ball carriers. Real ball carriers I mean as in Lauaki, Kaino, Nick Williams, Haiu, Wycliff Palu etc.
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