Beast definitely out of quarterfinal

Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira was not part of the 27-man Cell C Sharks squad that departed Durban on Sunday night for the play-off phase of Vodacom Super Rugby.

The possibility that the Sharks might advance past Saturday’s quarterfinal in Canberra against the Brumbies made it necessary for coach Robert du Preez to call up a bigger squad than the 25-man group that flew to Buenos Aires two weeks ago for the penultimate Super Rugby league game against the Jaguares.

Mtawarira has been out since the tour of Australasia. The Sharks’ most capped Super Rugby player was selected for last week’s trip to Cape Town but was forced to watch from the stands as his team struggled through a tight, error-ridden game before winning it with a try off the last move. The Springbok prop withdrew on the eve of that match with a knee injury and with the World Cup now just a few months away it was decided it was not worth the risk of playing him against the Brumbies.

The good news for the Sharks is that Curwin Bosch has recovered from his ankle injury and has flown to Canberra, while fullback Aphelele Fassi, who left the field towards the end in apparent discomfort, is also in the group. Whether that means he will be fit to play on Saturday is not known, and ditto for wing Makazole Mapimpi, who went off the field early in the final league fixture.

Kobus van Wyk is on tour and will provide wing cover should Mapimpi be doubtful for the Brumbies match, while Rhyno Smith, who scored a breakaway try after getting his foot onto a long Stormers pass across the face of his own tryline when on for Mapimpi, is a more than adequate potential replacement for Fassi at fullback. He also covers flyhalf.

The bad news for the Sharks is that none of the experienced trio of Jean-Luc du Preez, Philip van der Walt or Ruan Botha have been able to make the trip. The Sharks struggled to exert the physical dominance that they were hoping for in their absence against a severely depleted and disrupted Stormers pack and, together with the absence of Mtawarira, that suggests it will be a tough ask for the Sharks to contain the Brumbies.

Cell C Sharks squad: Aphelele Fassi, Rhyno Smith, Makazole Mapimpi, Sbu Nkosi, Kobus van Wyk, Lukhanyo Am, Jeremy Ward, Andre Esterhuizen, Curwin Bosch, Robert du Preez, Cameron Wright, Louis Schreuder (captain), Dan du Preez, Tyler Paul, Jacques Vermeulen, Luke Stringer, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Gideon Koegelenberg, Coenie Oosthuizen, Thomas du Toit, Cullen Collopy, Kerron van Vuuren, Craig Burden, Mzamo Majola, Juan Schoeman, John-Hubert Meyer.