Experienced former Springbok centre Francois ‘Swys’ Venter will lead the Hollywoodbets Sharks on their tough overseas tour that started with departure with the flight out of Durban on Monday and will feature four games to kick off their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign.
The Sharks will have been stung by their failure to make the placing they needed in last year’s competition to ensure entry into this season’s Heineken Champions Cup and will doubtless be focusing on getting it right from the start as New Zealander John Plumtree starts his second stint as Sharks coach.
When Plumtree was last in charge it was 2013 and the Sharks were playing in Super Rugby.
The URC represents a new challenge, and a minimum of a top six or seven finish, thus ensuring a place in Europe for next season, will be top of his priority list as he looks to re-establish the pride that, to be frank, was pretty much lost around the time he was axed as coach a decade ago.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks 28-man touring squad led by Francois Venter has been named💪🦈🖤
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) October 16, 2023
Read more here: https://t.co/8yaklzPFa9 #FearTheFin @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/UB5UBq3Ruh
Since then Plumtree has served as assistant coach at Ireland and the All Blacks as well as being part of a winning Hurricanes coaching group in Super Rugby, and he is probably right when he says he has learned a lot since he was last based in Durban and is a different coach now.
However, much has changed at the Sharks too, with the recruitment system coming under consistent critical scrutiny over the last few years.
While the Sharks now have big money courtesy of their partnership with the American MVM investment company, they have been accused of recruiting in the wrong areas.
MAY LACK CATTLE WHEN BOKS ARE AWAY
When the Springboks are back and on duty after the World Cup Plumtree shouldn’t have any problem forming a winning pack, with Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and newcomer Vincent Koch, who replaces the departed stalwart Thomas du Toit, forming a potentially formidable combination.
However it is debatable he has the cattle, as a New Zealander would put it, when the Boks aren’t around, and although they’d argue with some justification that they were just practice games and therefore not too much should be read into them, the Sharks did get soundly beaten by both the Emirates Lions and the DHL Stormers in warmup games.
Given a perceived depth at forward, they suffered a big blow during those warmup games too when the underrated lock Gerbrandt Grobler fractured his arm, thus ruling him out of rugby for some time.
HOUGAARD BRINGS EXPERIENCE
The Sharks have gained a few off-season acquisitions, most notably former Springbok and Vodacom Bulls scrumhalf (and often wing) Francois Hougaard, who has become a bit of a journeyman late in his career and will bring experience of playing a long time in Europe.
Aphiwe Dyanti, another Springbok back who has been out of rugby for four seasons, is returning to the game through the Sharks and is in the Sharks’ tour group. Coenie Oosthuizen, a fromer Bok prop, is also back as part of the Sharks family.
The Sharks succeeded in retaining the services of Aphele Fassi in the face of a concerted effort to recruit him from the Stormers, who probably feel better about missing out on the Bok now that another Bok in Warrick Gelant is back with them, and it will be interesting to see how the likes of Fassi and flyhalf Curwin Bosch progress under a new coaching team.
A player to watch this year is the young lock Corne Rall, who looked the business in the Sharks’ impressive Currie Cup challenge under the coaching of Joey Mongalo at the of last season.
The Sharks open their tour against newly crowned URC champions Munster in Limerick on Saturday before proceeding to Dublin for their clash with the perennial log winners Leinster the following Saturday.
They conclude their tour with two Friday night games against the Ospreys in Wales, a match Plumtree will be particularly looking forward to as he coached Swansea in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and then Zebre in Parma.
With the Boks due back when the Sharks start their home run of matches in Durban in mid-November, it will be reasonable to assume the Sharks will aim for two wins on tour, with the last two games the ones where that is more likely to happen.
SHARKS TOUR SQUAD
Backs: Aphelele Fassi, Aphiwe Dyanti, Boeta Chamberlain, Cameron Wright, Curwin Bosch, Francois Hougaard, Francois Venter (captain), Marnus Potgieter, Mthokozisi Mkhabelea, Murray Koster, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Werner Kok.
Forwards: Sikumbuzo Notshe, Vincent Tshituka, Phepsi Buthelezi, George Cronje, James Louw, Hanro Jacobs, Reniel Hugo, Corne Rall, Emile van Heerden, Nthuthuko Mchunu, Khwezi Mona, Kerron van Heerden, Dylan Richardson, Dan Jooste, Dian Bleuler, Coenie Oosthuizen.