Currie Cup: Platinum Leopards - Natal Sharks (08-10-2011, 19:10)

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Phokeng (08-10-2011, 19:10)

Referee:
​

The final game of the weekend sees the Sharks take on the Leopards in a game that the visitors simply have to win – and win well – to keep their home semi-final dreams alive. The Sharks have struggled against the minnow sides this year and (in)famously couldn't manage to secure a bonus point against the plucky Leopards at Kings Park earlier this season. The home side will take much heart from that performance and will feel they stand a chance of picking up a big scalp here, give the Sharks' patchy form. That said, we feel the

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR][TD] Platinum Leopards [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] Natal Sharks [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Hoffmann Maritz [/TD][TD] 15 [/TD][TD] Gouws Prinsloo [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Danie Dames [/TD][TD] 14 [/TD][TD] Subisiso Sithole [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Charl Weideman [/TD][TD] 13 [/TD][TD] Adrian Jacobs [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Joubert Engelbrecht [/TD][TD] 12 [/TD][TD] Meyer Bosman [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Vainon Willis [/TD][TD] 11 [/TD][TD] Lwazi Mvovo [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Wesley Dunlop [/TD][TD] 10 [/TD][TD] Frederic Michalak [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Johann Laker [/TD][TD] 9 [/TD][TD] Conrad Hoffmann [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Robert Kruger [/TD][TD] 8 [/TD][TD] Keegan Daniel (c) [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Luvuyiso Lusaseni [/TD][TD] 7 [/TD][TD] Marcell Coetzee [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Philip de Wet [/TD][TD] 6 [/TD][TD] Jacques Botes [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Brendon Snyman [/TD][TD] 5 [/TD][TD] Ross Skeate [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Brad Mockford [/TD][TD] 4 [/TD][TD] Jean Deysel [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Dewald Coetzee [/TD][TD] 3 [/TD][TD] Eugene van Staden [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Gavin Williamson [/TD][TD] 2 [/TD][TD] Kyle Cooper [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Jean-Jacques Rossouw [/TD][TD] 1 [/TD][TD] Dale Chadwick [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Marius Fourie [/TD][TD] 16 [/TD][TD] Monde Hadebe [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Alfred Wauts [/TD][TD] 17 [/TD][TD] Wiehahn Herbst [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Christo van Niekerk [/TD][TD] 18 [/TD][TD] Anton Bresler [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Juan Pretorius/Siya Mdaka [/TD][TD] 19 [/TD][TD] Jan Andre Marais [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Liam Slatem [/TD][TD] 20 [/TD][TD] Ross Cronje [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Clayton Durand [/TD][TD] 21 [/TD][TD] Marius Joubert [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Jovan Bowles [/TD][TD] 22 [/TD][TD] Stefan Terblanche [/TD][/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Draggs]

Why do I have a bad feeling about this one?
Just my general mood right now I suppose.

McLeod out of the match (and rest of the season) but Kankowski and Burden are back.
If Ross Skeate starts I'll consider a bet on the Leopards.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

McLeod gone means we see Hoffmann or Cronje. YEAH!!!!

 

[Seaton]

Whilst I think that without McLeod our place in the play-offs is in jeopardy. Booo

 

[Draggs]

I wouldn't want to rely on Hoffmann and Cronje right now. Both have them have had some truly poor performances of late.
Ludik is out so we will see Stefan at fifteen for the remainder of the season. Would it be worth giving Prinsloo a shot this late in the season? Considering the way Stefan has played, I think so.

 

[Seaton]

We may well see Prinsloo before the season ends, Oupa is an Oupa, he can't play every game. (Unless the Aussies, ahem, do the Sharks a favour )

Nah, best thing for the Sharks overseas now is to play, win the cup, come back with bags of confidence heading into 2012, then finally win the Superugby trophy before the world ends in December. We can jettison the trophy into space, so that all life may know of the Sharks awesomeness.

Back to the real world, I hope we do see some of Gouws, been in a pretty decent knick for the u21's. However, I don't think it would be too improbable for us to see JL Potgeiter at the back if Oupa does get a breather. (which he has far too many, waiting for all the forwards and backs to comeback when so few of his penalties find touch <_<)

I hope one of the French internationals gets injured when France beat England, and they can call up Michalak to go and do silly little grubbers in his own half elsewhere.

 

[Draggs]

Much like John Smit, I have a hard time going after Stefan Terblanche. Both have been great players who seem committed to the Sharks. They are simply past their time. Terblanche should have retired on a high after last years Currie Cup. We might as well give some of the younger players a run now and see how they go.

I can't wait for Viljoen to come back. I am so excited about next season. More so that I was this year (Herbst, Coetzee, Bresler emerging)

 

[Seaton]

Yeah, you can't fault Terblanche's effort, if he decided he should try another crack for one more year, well that's his decision and I would respect that. At the end of the day, it is the coaches that select him on the teamsheet, no one else. Just wish he would cut out these errors, simple things like making sure the ball goes into touch, cause its not like he regularly makes 50 metre touch finders anyway, taking the ball into contact rather than grubbering it away for a supposed 10 metre gain, of which the opposition secure the line-out and punt it 40 metres back to where we started from.

Mon the Sharks. B) Just win, don't worry about the BP, cause we know you won't get it in this 'form'

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Leopards: 15 Hoffmann Maritz, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Charl Weideman, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 Vainon Willis, 10 Wesley Dunlop, 9 Johann Laker, 8 Robert Kruger, 7 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 6 Philip de Wet, 5 Brendon Snyman, 4 Brad Mockford, 3 Dewald Coetzee, Gavin Williamson, Jean-Jacques Rossouw.
Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Alfred Wauts, 18 Christo van Niekerk, 19 Juan Pretorius/Siya Mdaka, 20 Liam Slatem, 21 Clayton Durand, 22 Jovan Bowles.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR][TD] Platinum Leopards [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] Natal Sharks [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Hoffmann Maritz [/TD][TD] 15 [/TD][TD] Gouws Prinsloo [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Danie Dames [/TD][TD] 14 [/TD][TD] Subisiso Sithole [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Charl Weideman [/TD][TD] 13 [/TD][TD] Adrian Jacobs [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Joubert Engelbrecht [/TD][TD] 12 [/TD][TD] Meyer Bosman [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Vainon Willis [/TD][TD] 11 [/TD][TD] Lwazi Mvovo [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Wesley Dunlop [/TD][TD] 10 [/TD][TD] Frederic Michalak [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Johann Laker [/TD][TD] 9 [/TD][TD] Conrad Hoffmann [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Robert Kruger [/TD][TD] 8 [/TD][TD] Keegan Daniel (c) [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Luvuyiso Lusaseni [/TD][TD] 7 [/TD][TD] Marcell Coetzee [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Philip de Wet [/TD][TD] 6 [/TD][TD] Jacques Botes [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Brendon Snyman [/TD][TD] 5 [/TD][TD] Ross Skeate [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Brad Mockford [/TD][TD] 4 [/TD][TD] Jean Deysel [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Dewald Coetzee [/TD][TD] 3 [/TD][TD] Eugene van Staden [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Gavin Williamson [/TD][TD] 2 [/TD][TD] Kyle Cooper [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Jean-Jacques Rossouw [/TD][TD] 1 [/TD][TD] Dale Chadwick [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Marius Fourie [/TD][TD] 16 [/TD][TD] Monde Hadebe [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Alfred Wauts [/TD][TD] 17 [/TD][TD] Wiehahn Herbst [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Christo van Niekerk [/TD][TD] 18 [/TD][TD] Anton Bresler [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Juan Pretorius/Siya Mdaka [/TD][TD] 19 [/TD][TD] Jan Andre Marais [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Liam Slatem [/TD][TD] 20 [/TD][TD] Ross Cronje [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Clayton Durand [/TD][TD] 21 [/TD][TD] Marius Joubert [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Jovan Bowles [/TD][TD] 22 [/TD][TD] Stefan Terblanche [/TD][/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Seaton]

Well, well.

I think we recommend team changes more often here, Plumtree may be a lurker :lol:

But it is interesting to see Deysel at lock again, with Mostert/ Sykes gone, and considering our wealth in the back-row, perhaps Plumtree is looking at retreading Deysel to a full-time lock?

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Deysel at lock, Kankowski at inside center and all our problems are solved!!!

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I love how Plum has picked Prinsloo. I just hope Cronje, Richards, Marais and Coetzee get some serious game time in next years Super 15 season.

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[kovana]

wOW.. eZ Going all out with this vBookie..

 

[kovana]

Woohoo... Got this one right... If only i had bet more than 25 bucks.. So will be awaiting my 3 dollars winnings with glee..

 

[Seaton]

Can't believe how much the scoreline flattered us, yet another average performance, which once again turned distinctly dire when Oupa came on. It was refreshing to see Prinsloo find touch with his penalties, why Oupa started take the touch finders...

Well done for your 100th cap I suppose, but jeez you are making it hard for supporters to support you.