SA latest – Smit back at tighthead
9 Mar 2011
Keo.co.za brings you news from South Africa’s Super Rugby franchises.
Smit back at tighthead -John Smit will start his first Super Rugby game this season at tighthead prop when the Sharks take on the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
Smit replaces Jannie du Plessis in the front row and takes over the captaincy from outside centre Stefan Terblanche.
The other change to the pack sees No 8 Ryan Kankowski promoted from the bench, which sees Keegan Daniel move to openside flank and Jacques Botes drops to the reserves.
Wing Odwa Ndungane has recovered from his light concussion to make the run-on side this weekend, while speedster Lwazi Mvovo replaces the injured JP Pietersen.
Sharks – 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Bench: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Anton Bresler, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Adrian Jacobs.
Sharks consider London fixture – The Crusaders are planning to stage their home match against the Sharks in London, but they will need the Durban franchise to agree to the change in venue.
Following the earthquake in Christchurch, the Crusaders have moved to Nelson as a temporary base. Since the disaster, there has been a move to stage a game in London in order to help their financial situation.
According to The Witness, Sharks CEO Brian van Zyl has been approached by his Crusaders counterpart and the Durban franchise is weighing up the pros and cons. The fixture is the Sharks’ fourth and final
tour game before they return to South Africa, so to travel all the way to London would place them at a disadvantage.
Both the Crusaders and Sharks stand to make money from the proposed fixture at Twickenham, but Van Zyl said a ‘rugby decision’ rather than a financial one would be made. The decision will be announced following the Sharks’ game against the Rebels on Friday.
Brussow back in action – Heinrich Brussow will make his return to Super Rugby against the Lions this weekend.
Sias Ebersohn will start at flyhalf while Andries Strauss has been named captain for the Cheetahs’ clash with the Lions. Naas Olivier has been dropped to the bench after some poor performances in the first three rounds.
Coach Naka Drotske has made several other changes, with Riaan Viljoen slotting in at fullback, flanks Philip van der Walt and Brussow introduced to the back row and Martin Muller coming in at lock.
Cheetahs – 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Philip Snyman, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss (c), 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Martin Muller, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Subs: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Kobus Calldo, 18 Kabamba Floors, 19 Francois Uys, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Fabien Juries.
536 Comments
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9 Mar 2011, 16:05 pm
well best of luck sharks….this is 1 game that should be targetted imo….
9 Mar 2011, 16:06 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-248:
amen thats a fact
9 Mar 2011, 16:07 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-249: They said mild concussion – I mean what is that? Its a worrying trend in rugby, guys don’t take it seriously enough. Ritchie years back, Juan last season, Davidson years back.
I hope Ratel is fit and ready.
9 Mar 2011, 16:08 pm
@grant10(grant10)-251: A must win. Hopefully John can keep the guys focused with his AWESOME leadership skills.
9 Mar 2011, 16:10 pm
Getting beaten Black and Blue – A history of the Stormers
9 Mar 2011, 16:10 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-248:
LOL……… boet you really don’t like the Stormers hey !!
Why not make the comparison to the Bulls, Lions, or Cheetahs.
We have never claimed to have a strong T 5
9 Mar 2011, 16:10 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-254: ja
although terblanche seemed to be doing just fine without those awesome skills
as was the sharks front row
9 Mar 2011, 16:11 pm
Sorry I keep laughing at that book!!! What a joke. Please Sharkies don’t come out with a similar one until we win this thing.
9 Mar 2011, 16:13 pm
@justrugby(justrugby)-256: Because they ALL have stronger front-rows then you currently. Its not bias, its just fact.
@grant10(grant10)-257: The only thing that can stop us winning this game is our own complacency. Important the leaders step up and focus the team. Terra will have a large role to play too.
9 Mar 2011, 16:17 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-259:
So for us to get two 2 major finals with a kak front row is a great achievement , you agree ???
Especially where a guy like Brock played every single minute of every game !!!!
9 Mar 2011, 16:27 pm
@justrugby(justrugby)-260: Ya, if you happy with that. It speaks volumes about the scrum at present. Its not as important as everybody makes out as refs interpretations make most scrums a lottery. Seldom is the game where the scrum is allowed to go at each other. The Sharks vs Blues was an exception. Aussie scrums and the Stormers are very good at disrupting the contest. This makes true scrum dominance rare.
9 Mar 2011, 16:30 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-261:
Agree re refs interpretations !!
9 Mar 2011, 16:31 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-261: And once you understand this concept you will become an enlightened, true scrum guru.
There are less scrums these days and they are the most poorly officiated part of the game.
9 Mar 2011, 16:32 pm
It will be interesting to count how many passes will go Ndungane’s way in the match,
also how many will he drop? Luke Rooney is a tough cookie wing
I’ll bet a 4/2
9 Mar 2011, 16:32 pm
@justrugby(justrugby)-262: If you think logically and cast of grants narrow mindedness, I believe you’ll see the truth and logic in most of my posts regarding this topic.
9 Mar 2011, 16:33 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-265: sorry cast off.
9 Mar 2011, 16:37 pm
With all the bad vibes being aimed at The Sharks by the sour girlyboys on this thread poopal69 will be out of a job soon.
9 Mar 2011, 16:40 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-265: your problem is that you see the scrum in isolation. You forget the huge impact a scrum under pressure has on the rest of the game….in fact i think you quite thick actually….you think you a kenner…but you actually a dumb farker! The 8…9 and 10 come under huge pressure when scrum takes strain….its not the amount of scrums you dumb fark….it only takes 1 or 2 bad scrums to lose you a WC….
You farken dumb ignoramus!
9 Mar 2011, 16:40 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-255: ha ha …classic
9 Mar 2011, 16:40 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-247:
Have you pulled it hard and long already?
Well, you should!
suggest you devote your sporting view to soccer ,,,,,
9 Mar 2011, 16:41 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-264: you a sick racist farker…hope you get hit by a bus…seriously…world will be a better place…scum
9 Mar 2011, 16:42 pm
We continually dominated the Force scrum and they were forced to collapse again and again on their own ball. Did doctor Brownthumb blow them up or even reset the scrum? No. So where did all that dominance get us?
CJ was continually warned against boring in or in the words of the ref ‘changing the angle’, but wasn’t penalised. This resulted in a technically weak scrum dominating a better one.
So there is no danger with regard to Smit at 3, other than the perception that has been aired in the press and eaked into the refs physcy. Other than this, if a ref really knows what he is doing and some great loosie like Woodcock does start to dominate, we can put Jannie on. This scenario is VERY unlikely. More likely a clueless ref will penalise him.
9 Mar 2011, 16:43 pm
grant has forgotten to take his pills again.
9 Mar 2011, 16:43 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-242: Agree totally about Odwa. He is our best wing so far in SA this year, no question about that.
9 Mar 2011, 16:48 pm
@grant10(grant10)-268: Whose talking World cup here? But since you bring it up, there are only a few sides in World rugby who make scrummaging an art and are able to dominate legally, however they rely on a good ref. In these games it would probably be safer to start John at 2. They are obvious in advance and should be easy to identify. France, England and to a lesser extent New Zealand. These sides have been known to dominate well before JS was at 3. If we come up against these sides AND a strong technical NH ref, we will need John’s scrumming ability at 2. If not we can play him where-ever – no worries. Like CJ and Brok.
9 Mar 2011, 16:48 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-267:
Sticks and Stones,,,
The Sharks played 2 games under S African referees, hardly neutral ones and 3rd game against a 14 men team, so it’s difficult to gauge their actual strength so far.
No need to be touchy, different guys have different ideas, may not necessarily agree with yours
9 Mar 2011, 16:50 pm
@justrugby(justrugby)-262: Was I starting to make sense, so Grant came running?
9 Mar 2011, 16:51 pm
@grant10(grant10)-271:
Pull it long and hard, don’t give up!
Youll be rewarded with that divine feeling which might be familiar to you?
9 Mar 2011, 16:51 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-276:
Only a Lazy Lions supporter would say that.
9 Mar 2011, 16:53 pm
@grant10(grant10)-268: Calm down kenner. Don’t you see my point? 8, 9 and 10 aren’t under pressure because the clueless refs are too busy giving free-kicks and penalties to both sides like the bounce of a ball on a roulette wheel.
9 Mar 2011, 16:54 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-276: How many games did Bulls play last year with Saffa Refs? So was that Bulls strength then last year?
9 Mar 2011, 16:54 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-278: sick farker
9 Mar 2011, 16:54 pm
Anyway, got to go. Grant and JR. Read my posts with no bias. You may find a thread of logic.
9 Mar 2011, 16:55 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-267: the aura is not the sharks … get it?
now enough about that hasbeen change the headline to “Brussow is back” would not want to thrash the Cheetahs without him there.
9 Mar 2011, 16:56 pm
@grant10(grant10)-268: You churn out the same stuff, read straight from the manual, but you don’t stop to question it. I know the theory Grant, I just believe its changed slightly. Refs aren’t up to it.
9 Mar 2011, 16:57 pm
sharks reckon the rebels are rubbish hence cappie @ 3
9 Mar 2011, 16:57 pm
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-284:
Nope I’m lost.
9 Mar 2011, 17:01 pm
I think with John’s versatality that he can play all 3 front row positions is a asset for Sharks.
Don’t think any other team has that.
Sharks back up th was injured before we left Durban. So with John able to cover that postion it gives Jannie a rest for the kiwi games coming up. Plum has got it right here to start John this Friday against the Rebels.
9 Mar 2011, 17:01 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-280: playing smit at 3 is looking for kak …klaar
9 Mar 2011, 17:02 pm
@Puma(Puma)-288: should have started plod at 2 this week….bissy should be rotated…you opening up an opportunity for rebels….
9 Mar 2011, 17:03 pm
Smit needs to be properly judged after a few more games.
I’m not convinced he’s that bad…yet.
9 Mar 2011, 17:03 pm
play plod at 3 against Wyatt Crockett of saders its all over rover …goodnite nurse…bobs your aunt!
9 Mar 2011, 17:04 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-291: not at 3 he shouldnt be there….
9 Mar 2011, 17:06 pm
I am actually with pissant and grantie (small kotch in mouth) on this.
Unless there is an injury to jannie this is a silly move.
He should be rotated with bissy. It’s a long season after all.
If Barney gets hurt soemeone is going to look pretty stupid.
That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be
9 Mar 2011, 17:06 pm
@grant10(grant10)-271: what happened was hondo racist towards you?
9 Mar 2011, 17:07 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-287: okay, I bet you say that all the time
aura = John Smit
9 Mar 2011, 17:07 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-294: well grantie doesn’t exactly say that, if he had his way JS wouldn’t even be on the bench for the Sharks
9 Mar 2011, 17:08 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-291: Smit needs game time and will get it. Will also be cover for all 3 front row positions. Remember he can cover all 3 front row positions. Now NO other team in this tourney has a player that can do that. Smit is a asset to our team. No question.
9 Mar 2011, 17:09 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-294: prat!
9 Mar 2011, 17:09 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-297:
ah.
I never said he wasn’t a nutter
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