In what could be a major setback to the Cell C Sharks’ chances of advancing beyond the quarterfinal stage of the Heineken Champions Cup, Eben Etzebeth is believed to be highly unlikely to play in Saturday’s sudden death playoff fixture against Toulouse.
Etzebeth, who has become very much the talisman at the Sharks since moving to Durban from France, was unable to play the second half of this past weekend’s highly impressive 50-35 win over Munster in the round of 16 Champions Cup clash. Director of rugby Neil Powell said afterwards that Etzebeth’s injury would be assessed and he would go for a scan, but it is understood the Sharks have resigned themselves to being without him for the quarterfinal.
And with the other starting lock against Munster, Emile van Heerden, having to leave the field not long after Etzebeth with what looked like a dislocated shoulder, the Sharks are going to have to dig deep into their second-row resources for the trip to France.
It looks likely that Vincent Tshituka will move from flank to lock, where he will partner Gerbrandt Grobler, with Reniel Hugo the likely replacement on the bench. On the positive side, the Sharks did get away without both Etzebeth and Van Heerden in the second half of the Munster clash, which was effectively when they took control of the game.
However, Etzebeth is the team’s enforcer and there is a noticeable difference between the Sharks teams that have the Springbok lock in tow and those that go onto the field without him. With Toulouse already likely to start as strong favourites, Etzebeth’s absence will minimise the prospect of a shock result. The Sharks do stand an outside chance, even on the Toulouse home ground, if Etzebeth is present.
Scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse is also a doubtful starter for Saturday’s clash, but in this case, the first-choice player has a more than capable replacement in the No 9 jersey in the form of the pacy X-factor player Grant Williams.
The injury situation offset what was otherwise a positive day out for the Sharks against Munster, with Powell saying afterwards that he was chuffed with the way his men had turned it around after their disappointing defeat to Scarlets in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship the previous week.
“It was a good turnaround for us and credit must go to the team for the way they turned around the disappointment of the Scarlets game. The boys realised they needed to be better, and they were,” said Powell.
DEFENCE STILL NEEDS IMPROVING
However, Powell was also realistic enough to admit that one of the perennial work-on areas for his team this season remains as such - the defence. Although the Sharks effectively put themselves on the road to victory by supplementing their scrum dominance with swarming defence in the near channels, with the Munster inside backs struggling under the pressure that was applied and the Sharks winning many turnovers, the defence out wide was again suspect.
Apart from the early try scored by Munster, where they found themselves with acres of space to play with once the ball had been moved through the hands and the inside defenders had been committed and removed from the contest, they also scored three good tries in the final quarter to turn what had looked like being a rout into an ultimately semi-respectable scoreline for the losers.
“Our attacking in this game was good but we set high standards for ourselves and in that sense the last 20 minutes was disappointing,” said Powell.
“We will need to fix that if we want to go further in the competition. We need to be able to put pressure on the ball but still be good defensively out wide. We know we have to look at our defence if we want to get through the next one as Toulouse are a very good attacking team.”
What the Sharks will have on their side in Toulouse that they never had at the start of the Munster game though is momentum.
“I think everyone is aware of how important the momentum flow is in rugby. We didn’t have it last week against Scarlets, and it is difficult when players come back after being out for eight weeks. But we took a step up in this game and we know another step will be required in all departments next week.”