Pietersen in at centre against the DHL Stormers
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The Sharks captain, Keegan Daniel.
Morgan Piek – The Sharks are facing yet another tough opponent this coming Saturday when they face-off against the DHL Stormers at the hallowed DHL Newlands. Both sides were far from convincing in their matches against the Vodacom Bulls and Hurricanes respectively. However, the DHL Stormers were able to notch up a victory against a severely weakened Hurricanes outfit.
The Sharks on the other hand were totally outclassed for the first sixty-five minutes in their clash at Loftus. It was only in the dying minutes of the game that they start showing any signs of something that resembled a “game plan”. One has to mention that the Vodacom Bulls themselves weren’t good at all.
The Sharks would like to return to the Shark Tank with a victory under their belt before playing their first home game of the campaign against the MTN Lions in Durban the following Saturday. They will however have a torrid time in the line-out against the Stormers. Currently the Stormers are can gloat about the fact that they have two locks that could be mistaken for skyscrapers with Andries measuring in at 2,08m and Eben Etzebeth at 2,03m.
Both these guys are so tall that they must have been born over a long weekend. Apart from their height, both are very good in the line-out. Etzebeth at only 20 years-old is already being likened to Springbok legend Bakkies Botha, because of his physical presence on the field.
Another factor for the Sharks to deal with is the return of the phenomenal Springbok centre Juan de Jongh, he be in partnership with Jean de Villers. In my opinion the Stormers duo will heavily outgun the inexperienced combination of Meyer Bosman and JP Pietersen and centre for the Sharks.
The two men I believe that could be the difference between the Sharks either winning or losing will be Riaan Viljoen at fullback and Pat Lambie at flyhalf. If these two keep putting the ball deep behind the Stormers line they should be able to disrupt the Stormers natural running game. The Stormers have never been known for kicking the ball deep on the return. It could however be different when Peter Grant comes off the bench for Gary van Aswegen.
Upfront the game should be evenly matched with the Stormers maybe just tipping the scales in their favour due to their highly effective lineouts and solid rolling mauls.
The game could change in the favour of the Sharks when the bench starts making its way onto the park. They have a great bench mixing youth and experience. The most exciting players on the bench are without a doubt Craig Burden, Paul Jordaan and Anton Bresler. Along with these mentioned players will be the experienced, former Springbok Marius Joubert and current Boks, Jannie du Plessis and Charl McLeod.
The team to face the Stormers:
15. Riaan Viljoen
14. Louis Ludik
13. JP Pietersen
12. Meyer Bosman
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Patrick Lambie
9. Frederic Michalak
8. Keegan Daniel (C)
7. Marcell Coetzee
6. Jacques Botes
5. Ross Skeate
4. Steven Sykes
3. Wiehahn Herbst
2. Bismarck du Plessis
1. Dale Chadwick
Replacements:
16. Craig Burden
17. Jannie du Plessis
18. Anton Bresler
19. Lubabalo Mtembu
20. Charl McLeod
21. Marius Joubert
22. Paul Jordaan
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