The Hollywoodbets Sharks team announcement on Thursday included a list of players either injured or unavailable due to “mandatory Springbok leave” that ran to almost as many names as the squad itself.
However, even though there are 20 players either out injured or being rested as coach John Plumtree uses this month to get the national resting protocols out of the way in the hope that he will have a fit squad for the business end of the season, the team selected for Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus is still a strong one.
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi is not among the top Boks being rested at this point, and Lukhanyo Am also must have taken his leave at another point, so both those players are in the group for the Pretoria game.
So is scrumhalf Grant Williams, while fullback Jordan Hendrikse and loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu have both been capped for the Boks.
While more than half the team is made up of players who would not be first choices if the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Andre Esterhuizen, Siya Kolisi, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Makazole Mapimpi (suspended) and Jaden Hendrikse (interchangeable with Williams) were available, the team has a similar fusion between youth and experience that the side that won in Durban before Christmas did.
And it is also arguably quite significantly stronger than the team that managed to draw with the Bulls in the Carling Currie Cup final last September and advance to the final on the basis of having outscored the hosts in tries.
🔥Your Hollywoodbets Sharks team for Saturday🔥
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) February 13, 2025
Read full team release article on https://t.co/sK3NTrE16I @Vodacom #URC #BULvSHA #OriginRound #GrassrootsToGreatness pic.twitter.com/U4qupoHDmP
TSHITUKA LEADS THE TEAM
Vincent Tshituka captained them from the flank then and he will again, while Hendrikse is at fullback, which was where he was playing when the Sharks got through the Loftus playoff game and then won the domestic trophy for them with his magnificent long penalty kick in the final in Johannesburg a week later.
Siya Masuku is at flyhalf with Am coming into the inside centre position, a position that would be Andre Esterhuizen’s were the influential midfielder, who has arguably done more than anyone else to change the Sharks’ fortunes this season, not injured.
Outside of Am is the prodigiously talented Jorenzo Julius, who came through as a top player during the Sharks’ successful domestic season, while Ethan Hooker and Yaw Penxe are both top wings.
Jason Jenkins is another player who was a good off-season buy for the Sharks and his lock partner Corne Rahl is a promising young player who is growing his experience in the absence of Etzebeth, Emile van Heerden and Gerbrandt Grobler.
With James Venter and Emmanuel Tshituka both injured and Kolisi on leave, the loose-forward stocks have taken a bit of a dent but Tino Masvere has enough experience now as a fetcher to do well alongside the older Tshituka and Phepsi Buthelezi, both of whom have regularly featured in the Sharks starting team this season.
If the injuries and rest do show up the Sharks anywhere, it is on the bench, where there are some relatively unknown players coming in, and that is where the Bulls are likely to have a definite edge.
However, the Sharks have been heroic the last two times they’ve played the Bulls and they do have the material to challenge their opponents if they take a similar approach onto the field with them on Saturday.
The Bulls won against the Stormers last week but it was only really the Stormers’ inability to kick an easy match-winning conversion at the death that prevented them from presenting an under-strength Stormers side with victory so there may still be question marks over their temperament in closely fought big derby matches.
If they lose to the Sharks this week the narrative will be similar to the one after the Durban game - heroic understrength Sharks win.
They will need to use this match to set the record straight, which will also enable them to maintain pressure on Glasgow Warriors for the coveted second spot on the log, while the Sharks will cement a top-four spot if they win.
HOLLYWOODBETS SHARKS TEAM: Jordan Hendrikse, Yaw Penxe, Jurenzo Julius, Lukhanyo Am, Ethan Hooker, Siya Masuku, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka (captain), Tino Masevere, Jason Jenkins, Corne Rahl, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: Ethan Bester, Ruan Dreyer, Hanro Jacobs, Lappies Labuschagne, Jannes Potgieter, Bradley Davids, Francois Venter, Jaco Williams.