Sharks call on fit-again flyhalf Pretorius
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:37
Are his injury woes finally behind him? Sharks flyhalf Andre Pretorius. (c) Gallo
Springbok flyhalf André Pretorius could make his Sharks debut off the bench whenGriquas travel to Durban for the Currie Cup clash on Friday.
The Sharks have complete respect for Griquas, who are the only team to have beaten them this season - 40-34 in Kimberley in Round One.
The team announcement was left until after fullback Louis Ludik underwent a fitness test following the knock to the head he took against Western Province last weekend. Unfortunately, he has not been given the all-clear and so will miss the match, with Monty Dumond replacing him in the No.15 jersey.
The 31-year-old Pretorius has finished his lengthy rehabilitation period, after he badly injury his hamstring in during the Super 14 pre-season with the Western Force. He played 80 minutes of club rugby last weekend and has now been named amongst the reserves.
Centre Andries Strauss has recovered sufficiently from the knock that he took early in that game, while the loss of Ryan Kankowski to the Springbok Tri-Nations cause is the only non-injury related change.
"Andries Strauss has come through well - he trained well this week - which is great," coach John Plumtree told the official Sharks website.
"The pack pretty much stays the same apart from losing Ryan [Kankowski] to the Boks so we've brought in Jacques Botes."
The loss of lock Ross Skeate following a strain sustained in the gym this week opens the door for Anton Bresler to get another opportunity after featuring in the corresponding fixture in the first round. Michael Rhodes adds further depth on the bench.
Plumtree explained that team selection was a balancing act for the coaching staff.
"There is going to be rotation in the second round at times and at other times, I'll stick with consistency, but it's important that everyone is up to speed in the squad.
"There is a bit of competition in certain positions, but without our Boks involved, we have to be wary of losing individuals to injury as that could stress our squad numbers, that's always a challenge."
Despite some outstanding performances in recent weeks from the Sharks, there is the feeling that improvements each week, no matter how small, can only be to the team's benefit and are the stated goal.
Said Plumtree: "It's not really about aiming to peak at the end of the season, but making sure we look at constantly improving and maintaining our strengths.
"We want to play our best rugby each weekend and there are certain things we are still not happy about in our game which hopefully we'll see some improvement on for Friday."
Sharks: 15 Monty Dumond, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanché (captain), 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1
Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Anton Bresler, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Riaan Swanepoel.
Date: Friday, August 27
Venue: Absa Stadium, Durban
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
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