With two weeks remaining until the kick-off to the new season Hollywoodbets Sharks XV coach John Plumtree is using Saturday’s Carling Currie Cup semifinal to test out what looks like a likely starting team for the opening Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Galway.
The Sharks travel to Pretoria to face the Vodacom Bulls in the late semifinal on Saturday, with the Fidelity ADT Lions hosting the Toyota Cheetahs in Johannesburg earlier on the same afternoon. Plumtree had his say about the timing of the Currie Cup and the inconvenience of the decision to shift the start of the URC to accommodate next week’s final earlier in the week, and said he was prepared to play both the URC and Currie Cup final on the same day.
But while he spoke of the game as the ideal “hit out” for the URC, with this effectively being perfect timing for a last hard warmup game as a dress rehearsal for the URC start, he said he also wanted to respect the competition.
“That’s a good question,” responded the Sharks coach to a question on how he viewed the Loftus clash and what it meant to his team.
“It is a pre-season game ultimately, although there are not many guys in this team that will be playing their first games (since coming back from the off-season). Most of them played against the Griffons or last week (against the Bulls in the final league match). This is an opportunity for us to have a real physical hit out against a quality team.
“But while I am talking about the URC, and as much as we know URC and the Champions Cup are the priorities for the union, I think it is important to honour the Currie Cup. It is a competition with a massive history and it has been a big part of my coaching career. We know that we must honour the Currie Cup.
“At the same time, I am not thinking beyond this weekend. And like I am sure is the case with the other coaches (preparing for the URC), we are hoping we don’t pick up injuries.”
💥Carling Currie Cup Team Release💥
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) September 12, 2024
Your Hollywoodbets Sharks XV to take on The Vodacom Bulls on Saturday.
Read the full team release article on https://t.co/uS4duivlV6#CarlingCurrieCup #BULvSHA pic.twitter.com/RrYZVoZLv6
The Sharks already have a fairly extensive injury list for this early in the South African season, which outside of the Currie Cup is now aligned with the northern hemisphere. And that includes Jurenzo Julius, one of the star players who has come through from the young brigade that drove a stellar recovery for the Sharks from their poor start that saw them lose their opening three games.
HOOKER SELECTED ON THE WING
Plumtree is confident Julius will be fit to play next week, if his team make the Currie Cup final, and may well be one of the few players in Saturday’s team almost guaranteed to be part of a potential decider as the smart money might be on the Sharks mixing up selections if they do get beyond Saturday. It might be risky to play a domestic final just seven days before a long URC season starts with a match against Connacht in Galway.
With Julius out, the Sharks have a changed up midfield, with Springbok Andre Esterhuizen returning at inside centre and last weekend’s man of the match against the Bulls in the league game, Ethan Hooker, moving to the wing. Plumtree said the selection was purely experimental and did not indicate a permanent switch.
“Ethan hasn’t played wing before but I thought this was a good opportunity to experiment. It is not a positional change for him, his future is definitely in the midfield, but I thought I would play him on the wing in this game and see how he goes.
“He has the attributes in that he is big and fast and good under the high ball. He is also good around the back field and he is an excellent communicator. With Andre (Esterhuizen) playing it will mean we have two big men and it will be interesting to see how they go. This is just a chance to take a look and see, and our depth is being tested as there are a lot of injuries among the outside backs. We want to see how it goes as we may need him there at some point to help the team.”
Esterhuizen is one of five capped Springboks in the match day 23, the others being fullback Jordan Hendrikse, outside centre Francois Venter, No 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu and reserve prop Trevor Nyakane.
Hollywoodbets Sharks XV: Jordan Hendrikse, Eduan Keyter, Francois Venter, Andre Esterhuizen, Ethan Hooker, Siya Masuku, Bradley Davids, Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka, James Venter, Emile van Heerden, Corne Rahl, Hanro Jacobs, Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: Ethan Bester, Dian Bleuler, Trevor Nyakane, Gerbrandt Grobler, Emmanuel Tshituka, Tian Meyer, Lionel Cronje, Litelihle Bester.