The Hollywoodbets Sharks team’s chances of advancing to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship final took a nose-dive on Friday when the side for Saturday’s semifinal in Pretoria was announced without Eben Etzebeth in it.
Etzebeth led the Sharks to their 24-all penalty-shootout win against Munster in Durban last weekend but sustained an injury during training this week and won’t be at Loftus. Neither will the man who started alongside him in the second row in the quarterfinal, Jason Jenkins. Jenkins left the field early against Munster and hasn’t recovered.
So there will be a whole new lock pairing for the game against the Vodacom Bulls, something that will significantly impact the Sharks’ chances of winning. Having said that, the Sharks have yet to field a full-strength side against the Bulls this season, and they are yet to lose to the Pretoria unit.
The Sharks do enjoy triumphing in adversity and there’s an opportunity for that on Saturday, and it is not as if the men who come into the team, Emile van Heerden, who played most of last week’s game after Jenkins’ injury, and young Corne Rahl, are poor players. For Rahl, in particular, this is a great opportunity after a spell where he’s been in and out of the team because of injuries.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks are in the water… 🦈
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Can they defeat the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus? 🏟️🐂
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The rest of the Sharks team is the one that played against Munster and coach John Plumtree will be hoping that the harrowing experience of having to come through a place-kicking shootout will have further strengthened the impressive resolve that has seen his team win six games on the bounce while not playing particularly well.
They are certainly still in good hands when it comes to leadership, with Springbok double World Cup-winning captain taking over the leadership from his position at No 8. So it turns out that Kolisi, who told a press conference this week that “I am not skipper here”, is skipper after all as the Sharks hit their most important game of the season.
There are a few changes to the Sharks bench, with Jurenzo’s X-factor displacing Francois Venter’s experience as the midfield backup player, while Plumtree, in the absence of his two most experienced locks, has had to go to his most inexperienced second row forward in Deon Slabbert as the lock reserve.
Hollywoodbets Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Ethan Hooker, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Jordan Hendrikse, Jaden Hendrikse, Siya Kolisi (captain), Vincent Tshituka, James Venter, Emile van Heerden, Corne Rahl, Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche.
Replacements: Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Hanro Jacobs, Deon Slabbert, Phepsi Buthelezi, Bradley Davids, Jurenzo Julius, Yaw Penxe.