Confident Sharks backed for Bloem
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:26
The Sharks have breathed a sigh of relief as two important forwards came through training unscathed, and are fit to play the Cheetahs in Saturday's Currie Cup match in Bloemfontein.
Steven Sykes has returned to the fold and will partner Johann Muller (earning his 50th Currie Cup cap) at lock while loosehead prop Deon Carstens will join Skipper Badenhorst and Jannie du Plessis in the front row.
In other changes, Frederic Michalak, having passed his return to rugby with flying colours last week, comes into the starting line-up at flyhalf while Henno Mentz returns at the expense of Wesley Bodmer on the wing.
Andries Strauss takes over from Bradley Barritt at inside centre and in the final change, Nikolai Blignaut has been named at flank.
With home wins being crucial in this competition, the Cheetahs (mindful of the fact that they have lost ground to the Sharks with successive defeats in the past two weeks) will be attaching great importance to winning this encounter.
The Cheetahs will no doubt also use recent history as motivation in their quest to return to winning ways.
"It's a huge challenge for us as we haven't won in the Currie Cup there in a number of years," assistant coach Grant Bashford told sharksrugby.co.za, who is confident going into the game.
"It's really exciting, and if we get it right, we can beat anyone.
"Against the Bulls we were dominated and were still in it, but the tempo killed the game and it didn't happen for us. There is a lot of talent in this team, people need to be patient. I'm sure there will be good results down the line.
"We're creating opportunities, that's the main thing. If we weren't we would be concerned," added Bashford.
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Chris Jordaan, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Scott Mathie, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Nikolai Blignaut,
6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Skipper Badenhorst, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Robbie Harris, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Riaan Swanepoel, 22 Monty Dumond.
Date: Saturday, July 19
Venue: Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Touch judges: Theuns Jonker, Peet Badenhorst
TMO: Michael Cupido
