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Brothers swop and Siya at No 8 for Sharks

football24 October 2024 11:23
By:Gavin Rich
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Siya Kolisi © Gallo Images

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has been switched from his usual position of flank to No 8 in the Hollywoodbets Sharks team for Saturday’s crucial Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Munster in Durban.

The Sharks turned around some of the momentum of their URC season when they went full strength for the first time with the return of their top Boks for last weekend’s game against Glasgow Warriors.

Beating the champions first time out as that particular team composition was confirmation that the Sharks will be hard to beat when at full complement.

So retaining some continuity with the selection for this week’s game was always expected as the Sharks play their final game before the break for the November international season in Europe, after which the Sharks will return one week after the last Bok game against Wales in Cardiff to host the DHL Stormers in what could be a tough game for them given that the Cape side are less disrupted by Bok calls.

Kolisi moves to the back of the scrum for Phepsi Buthelezi in one of three changes to the side that won 28-24 last time out and which at one stage of that game led 28-12. Buthelezi moves to the bench for the Munster game.

There is a lot of brother stuff going on in the Sharks squad at present, with Vincent Tshituka, who captained the Sharks to Currie Cup success a month ago, returning to the side after injury forced him to miss out last week.

He replaces brother Emmanuel on the blindside flank, with the younger Tshituka dropping out of the match day squad completely.

And in another change involving brothers, Jordan Hendrikse loses his brother Jaden as his halfback partner, with Grant Williams coming in as the starting scrumhalf in what can be seen as a rotational switch.

There is merit to that selection beyond rotation, with Williams bringing some zip to the Sharks when it came to clearing the recycles against Glasgow and of course he also brings an extra threat around the fringes with his breaking ability, thus keeping the opposition defenders in that area engaged and creating additional attacking space elsewhere.

Not that it should be interpreted as Hendrikse, who started for the Boks in Mbombela in their last Championship game where he also fulfilled the goalkicking duties, is himself a quality scrumhalf.

The continued appearance of Siya Masuku on the bench underlines the depth that Plumtree has available to him in selection in that key area, with the days of the Sharks having to rely on the in some ways gifted but in other ways flawed Curwin Bosch now long gone.

If you consider they also have Trevor Nyakane on their books, the Sharks also have a lot of depth at front row, where Dylan Richardson again misses out to the combination of Bok World Cup winner Bongi Mbonambi and Fez Mbatha, while Ntuthuko Mchunu, understood to be in the Stormers’ sights for next season given the uncertainty over the future of Steven Kitshoff, plays ahead of Nyakane.

Ethan Hooker is still on the injured list, and he might have replaced Eduan Keyter, who dropped a few balls last week, otherwise this looks like the strongest Sharks team that Plumtree can assemble and they will start against Munster with a good chance of clinching the win they need to go into the international break feeling a degree of comfort about their platform for the rest of the URC season.

HOLLYWOODBETS SHARKS TEAM: Aphelele Fassi, Eduan Keyter, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Jordan Hendrikse, Grant Williams, Siya Kolisi, Vincent Tshituka, James Venter, Emile van Heerden, Eben Etzebeth (captain), Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche.

Replacements: Fez Mbatha, Ntutuko Mchunu, Ruan Dreyer, Jason Jenkins, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jaden Hendrikse, Siya Masuku, Francois Venter.

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