Sharks captain on the move
Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:10
Not done yet: Sharks veteran Stefan Terblanche. (c) Peter van As
Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche has moved back to fullback, after playing in the midfield for most of the season.
Coach John Plumtree has made several changes to his starting XV ahead of the Currie Cup encounter with the Pumas in Witbank on Friday.
Uncertainty over the availability of regular fullback Louis Ludik – who has been bracketed in with Luzuko Vulindlu on the bench – means Terblanche starts in the No.15 jersey, as Plumtree named a starting XV that is unlikely to change again as it did last week.
With Terblanche moving to fullback, Riaan Swanepoel comes back into the side at inside centre and Andries Strauss plays in the No.13 jersey vacated by Terblanche.
Ryan Kankowski, released from Springbok duty, replaces the injured Keegan Daniel at No.8.
The entire front row has been replaced - with Eugene van Staden, Craig Burden and Patric Cilliers starting this week.
Wiehahn Herbst drops down to the bench, while Bismarck du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira are on a Springbok conditioning programme and won't be available till next month again.
Plumtree said he decided not to wait with his starting XV and made an early call on Ludik.
"I wanted to name a starting XV that won't change again and he's been bracketed on the bench," Plumtree explained in an interview on the Sharks' website.
"Stefan Terblanche will give us real go-forward ball from a counter perspective and his experience is obviously important. Swannie [Riaan Swanepoel] and Andries [Strauss] have been in good form.
"We're lucky to have Ryan back, especially after losing Keegan, he's been in great form and losing him last week was a big blow for us. It's great having Ryan coming back into the team, I'm looking for a real big performance from him on the weekend.
"We're a bit lighter than the Pumas up front, but Patric Cilliers has worked hard on his conditioning over the last couple of weeks and played some good club rugby for Rovers, he'll be pretty hungry to impress me and I wanted to see what Eugene can bring at tighthead."
The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Andries Strauss, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Eugene van Staden, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Patric Cilliers.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Michael Rhodes, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Andre Pretorius, 22 Louis Ludik/Luzuko Vulindlu.
Date: Friday, September 10
Venue: Puma Stadium, Witbank
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
Assistant referees: Matt Kemp, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising
