Jason Jenkins will make his Hollywoodbets Sharks debut as a member of the starting team in Saturday night’s opening Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash against Connacht in Galway.
Capped once for the Springboks, the former Vodacom Bulls and Leinster lock was named in the match day squad for last weekend’s Carling Currie Cup final against the Lions in Johannesburg. However, he was a late withdrawal, with Gerbrandt Grobler coming into his place on the bench at the last minute.
This time Jenkins is going one better than being named on the bench, and he will be wearing the Sharks No 4 jersey against a team he should know well as Leinster would have played two derbies per season against Connacht during his time with the Irish province. Grobler moves up to the starting team in place of the injured Emile van Heerden alongside Jenkins, while Corne Rahl, who started the Currie Cup final, moves to the bench.
The team for the first URC game shows a lot of similarities to the one that snuck home with a late long range penalty from Jordan Hendrikse in the domestic final. Hendrikse lines up at fullback and is one of five players in the starting team who will be playing their first URC game for the franchise. The others are centre Jurenzo Julius, his midfield partner Andre Esterhuizen, former Lions loose-forward Emmanuel Tshituka, who will be playing No 8, and another former Lions player in tighthead prop Ruan Dreyer.
Like replacement prop Trevor Nyakane and reserve scrumhalf Tian Meyer, all of those players were part of the Sharks match day squad during the playoff phase of the Currie Cup season. Gurshwin Wehr is bracketed with back-up flyhalf Lionel Cronje and will also be playing his first URC game for the Sharks should he find himself getting onto the field form the bench.
🔥Your Hollywoodbets Sharks team for the VURC opener! 🔥
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) September 26, 2024
Read full team release article on https://t.co/wr2jJQlCpH@vodacom #URC #CONvSHA pic.twitter.com/kql0RumP3G
Hollywoodbets Sharks team: Jordan Hendrikse, Eduan Keyter, Jurenzo Julius, Andre Esterhuizen, Ethan Hooker, Siya Masuku, Bradley Davids, Emmanuel Tshituka, Vincent Tshituka (captain), James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Jason Jenkins, Ruan Dreyer, Dylan Richardson, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: Fez Mbatha, Trevor Nyakane, Hanro Jacobs, Corne Rahl, Reniel Hugo, Tinotenda Mavesere, Tian Meyer, Gurswin Wehr/Lionel Cronje.