Three changes as Sharks go in search of strong finish

The Cell C Sharks have made three changes to the starting lineup as they aim for a strong finish to their initial four-match Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

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The Sharks will be looking to build on their first-ever win in the new competition against Ospreys when they travel up the highway to the Welsh capital, Cardiff, from Swansea to face the Cardiff Blues on Saturday. Normally when a team wins well, like the Sharks did at the Liberty Stadium last Friday, a coach is reluctant to tamper with the selection, but there are player management issues to be taken into consideration during a tour.

Curwin Bosch returns at fullback for Anthony Volmink, who moves to the left wing after wearing the No 15 last week. That is the only change to the backline, with the others involving positional switches in the loose forwards.

Dylan Richardson returns to the starting team at openside flank for James Venter, Henco Venter moves from No 8 to blindside flank to accommodate the return of regular skipper Phepsi Buthelezi, who takes the figurative armband back from prop Thomas du Toit. Gerbrandt Grobler, who played blindside flank in the last two games, moves to the bench, where he will cover both flank and lock.

“We’re obviously very happy with the result we got last Friday night, and not just the result but the way we performed,” he explained Sharks coach Sean Everitt in the build-up to the match.

“We believe there are four things you need to do to win rugby games, one of them is discipline and I thought we were outstanding in that department, only conceding four penalties in the last 60 minutes of the game which contributed a lot to us winning the territory battle.

“Our discipline has improved vastly since the first game when we gave away 17 penalties, but conceded 10 against Glasgow and this last week nine, which is below the tournament average of 12, so we are doing well in that department.”

Everitt said his team satisfied the other three requirements for winning rugby when they won the set-piece and territory battle, and completed it with a dominant defensive display.

“From a defensive point of view, we were outstanding. Ospreys had many attacking opportunities but we were able to keep them out through some really solid defence. We also won the territory battle which was due to some really good game management from Ruan Pienaar and Boeta Chamberlain, the latter deservedly man of the match."

The work-ons for this week were the execution on attack, as Everitt felt his team had missed a couple of opportunities that might have put his men in with a chance of grabbing a try-scoring bonus point.

Cell C Sharks team: Curwin Bosch, Marnus Potgieter, Jeremy Ward, Murray Koster, Anthony Volmink, Boeta Chamberlain, Ruan Pienaar, Phepsi Buthelezi (captain), Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Kerron van Vuuren, Nthuthuko Mchunu.

Replacements: Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Wiehahn Herbst, Reniel Hugo, Gerbrandt Grobler, James Venter, Tian Meyer, Werner Kok.