Sharks have injury concerns ahead of big Toulouse clash

As the only South African team with a realistic chance of progressing far in the Investec Champions Cup, the Hollywoodbets Sharks should have the country behind them when they clash with mighty Toulouse in Durban on 11 January.

However, while the Sharks’ trip to Cape Town for their Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the DHL Stormers was definitely not all in vain despite them losing the game by four points, coach John Plumtree will have some major concerns to deal with when he and his team return to business after a week off next Monday.

The Sharks lost Springbok backline players Aphelele Fassi and Andre Esterhuizen on their way to a 24-20 defeat that was clinched by the Stormers with a last gasp try, as well as lock Emile van Heerden. It was too early immediately after the game for Plumtree to be sure of the extent of the injuries, but Fassi looks potentially the most serious, although all three will be in doubt for the Toulouse game.

“It wasn’t a great day at the office for us on the injury front again,” said Plumtree. “And they’re not one to two week injuries, they’re six to eight weeks.”

Fortunately Plumtree is expecting a phalanx of Boks, including Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth, Grant Williams and Lukhanyo Am, back for the Toulouse fixture. James Venter and Vincent Tshituka, who have missed the past few weeks, should also be back.

FASSI AND ESTERHUIZEN WILL BE BIG LOSSES

However, if he is without Esterhuizen it will be a big loss as the strongly built centre has been an influential player in the Sharks’ much improved form this season, with his ability to use his strength to turn bad ball into good ball key, and Fassi’s likely absence could hurt the Sharks even more.

Plumtree confirmed that Fassi, who experienced a breakthrough year for the Springboks in 2024, had been taken to hospital for scans. Jordan Hendrikse moving to the last line of defence with Siya Masuku slotting into the flyhalf role would appear the obvious solution, but Hendrikse has been good at flyhalf while not being quite the same threat from the back, or as good at covering the back field, as Fassi is.

SHOWED IMPRESSIVE FIGHT

Plumtree was understandably disappointed with the defeat in Cape Town as his team did have a chance of winning it when they took the lead with five minutes to go, but took a philosophical line as it was a game that the Stormers dominated most of the way without quite being able to convert.

“I have to credit the guys for their fight, our defence was outstanding,” said Plumtree.

It was indeed and it was mainly down to that commitment that the Sharks were able to return to Durban with what could ultimately prove an important losing bonus point. Stormers coach John Dobson was also impressed with the fight shown by the Sharks and commended them for “the soul” that they now have in the team that wasn’t apparent before.

Certainly Plumtree has no reason to be too disheartened - his team is still fifth on the URC log, and the Stormers were always going to be favourites in Cape Town, where they haven’t lost a derby since 2021. And he’s right to be heartened by the fight his men showed, with the most commendable aspect of their refusal to lie down and go away when the Stormers were threatening to take control being the fact that they needed the win less than the Stormers did.

While the previous weekend in Durban it was the reverse, with the Sharks needing to prevail more than the Vodacom Bulls did, and they got that right, this was a game that Plumtree could very easily have sent his second string team to play.

But he wanted to honour the big occasion of what turned out to be a full house at DHL Stadium and said he was pleased to be taking home the losing bonus point as a reward for the effort put in.

DIDN’T HANDLE THE BIG MOMENTS

He admitted though that his team had not handled some of the big moments in the game as well as they should have. A soft penalty from Ethan Hooker, who was earlier yellow carded, set the Stormers up for a final attempt at a try, but Plumtree sounded a bit confounded that the Stormers were able to maul from more than 20 metres out before putting Jean-Luc du Plessis in for the winning try.

“We should never concede a try like that. I think our forwards were a bit knackered. We also lacked a few leaders at the end because they were all off the field,” said the Sharks coach.

The Sharks will enjoy a week off now, as will the Stormers, before coming together on Monday to start preparations for the Toulouse game. Plumtree will be hoping for some good news on the injury front.

“We are getting guys back but then we keep losing players to new injuries which is frustrating,” he admitted.