Currie Cup: Natal Sharks - Leopards @ Kings Park, Durban (19-08-2011, 18:10 GMT)

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Kings Park, Durban (19-08-2011, 18:10 GMT)

The Leopards face an uphill battle at Kings Park in Durban on Friday evening against The Sharks, the defending champions currently in second place on the Currie Cup log.

In fact, the Sharks can go top of the log with the first round of the competition nearly finished if they score a bonus point victory against the Leopards and the Golden Lions return with empty hands from Cape Town.

Sharks coach John Plumtree has decided to rotate his squad this weekend, making a number of changes to the team to give fringe players much-needed game time.

Stefan Terblanche is getting a break, with Springboks Meyer Bosman and Marius Joubert teaming up in the midfield. Keegan Daniel will play off the bench and Jacques Botes will lead the team, while Conrad Hoffman replaces Charl McLeod at scrumhalf.

Plumtree doesn't underestimate the Platinum Leopards in any way though, even if The Sharks beat them twice by big scores in last year's Currie Cup.

"The Leopards have conceded a few points this year, but they've also scored a few, so they have plenty of attacking threats and will come here with an attitude of wanting to attack and put on a good show. Defensively, we're going to have to be really up for it, " said Plumtree.

"Our defence was good against Western Province, but it was easier in the rain. Hopefully there won't be any on Friday. They will look to stress us and we have to make sure defensively we're on target - defence is a big focus for us this weekend. "

The Sharks vs Platinum Leopards
Date: Friday, 19 August
Kick-off: 19:10
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
Last year in Currie Cup:
- 13 August: The Sharks won 51-6 in Phokeng
- 1 October: The Sharks won 63-6 in Durban

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Marius Joubert, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Sbura Sithole, 10 Fred Michalak, 9 Conrad Hoffmann, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Jacques Botes (capt), 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Dale Chadwick
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Stefan Terblanche

Leopards: 15 George Tossel, 14 Hoffman Maritz, 13 Jovan Bowles, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 Vainon Willis, 10 Wesley Dunlop, 9 Theo van Wyk, 8 Morné Hanekom (capt), 7 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 6 Victor Joubert, 5 Brad Mockford, 4 Brendan Snyman, 3 Stefan Bezuidenhout, 2 Jacques Moller, 1 Bennie Uys.
Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Dewald Coetzee, 18 John-Roy Jenkins, 19 Christo van Niekerk, 20 Spanner Pretorius, 21 Johan Laker, 22 Hennie Skorbinski

 

[Seaton]

There has been some pretty decent weather of late, perfectly sunny today, so the conditions should be just right for a good win for the Sharks
By accident, at long last I have defeated the Sharks website's ability to prevent me from right-clicking, and as part of my triumph shall post the youth team line-ups

The Sharks Under 19s
15 Keelin Bastew
14 Heinrich Arendse
13 Andrew Holland
12 Ruan Allerston
11 Ofentse Boloko
10 Robert du Preez
9 Ivan Ludick
8 Guy Alexander
7 Khaya Majola
6 Jason Klaasen
5 Ernst Ladendorf
4 Stephan Lewies
3 Allan Dell (Capt)
2 Franco Marais
1 Deucullen van der Merwe

Replacements
16 Senzo Mtshali
17 Nicolaas van Dyk
18 Stephan Deyzel
19 Wade Elliott
20 Alwyn Jansen van Vuuren
21 Stefan Ungerer
22 Riaan van Zyl
23 Janco Tiedt

The Sharks Under 21s
15 Gouws Prinsloo
14 Jaco van Tonder
13 Piet Lindeque
12 Heimar Williams
11 Kieran Goss
10 Paul Jordaan
9 Cobus Reinach
8 Lubabalo Mtembu
7 Chris Cloete
6 Francois Kleinhans
5 Karolis Navickas
4 Pieter-Steph du Toit
3 Nick Schonert
2 Monde Hadebe (Capt)
1 Danie Mienie
Replacements
16 Shaun Malton
17 Njabulo Mkize
18 Peet Marais
19 Brynard Stander
20 Siseko Jafta
21 Fred Zeilinga
22 Nico van der Westhuizen

Still some hiccups though

 

[Seaton]

Avoided the Sharks until now so I could have time to recover from last night.

The game will be summed up in one sentence. Charl McLeod looked like a wee demi-god, as he stood out as a beacon of unshitiness that was the proverbial toilet of Kings Park.

The Sharks won, something like 27-3, important bit being we did not get the 4 try bouns point.

Keegan Daniel, when he came on off the bench, was absolutely pathetic. Yet again another stupid tip tackle, this time on a player without the ball. His yellow card in the last few minutes meant no matter how hard we pushed, we weren't going to get the BP. We lead only 6-0 at half-time.

As for the ref. Add 'Lourens van de Merwe' to you scrapbook as one of the worst refs to 'grace' the game. One point sums he up. So fustrated were we (Sharks and Leopards supporters) with his dealings in the scrum, I took the liberty to time all of the scrum engagements and resets in the second half, and guess what it came to? 18 MINUTES.

Last and final point, and the part of the game that annoyed us all the most. The Leopards came here to disrupt the game, they had no intent what-so-ever of winning the game. Thoroughly disappointing stuff, and frankly I hope they get humped by every team, including the Bulls, simply because of the way they played last night. If it wasn't for the little portable decoder I had with me in the stands for the Lions vs. WP game, I probably would have left and have been a tee-totaler no more.

I will neg rep anyone who says after this game that says PdV is a tool for not calling up Keegan Daniel, so f***ing stupid. Should have got a red and cited.