Currie Cup: Western Province - Natal Sharks (11-08-2012, 17:10)

[Draggs]

Newlands, Cape Town (11-08-2012, 17:10)

Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
Assistants: Jason Jaftha, Marc van Zyl
Television match official: JC Fortuin
​

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR][TD] Western Province [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] Natal Sharks [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Joe Pietersen [/TD][TD] 15 [/TD][TD] Gouws Prinsloo [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Gerhard van den Heever [/TD][TD] 14 [/TD][TD] Odwa Ndungane [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] JP du Plessis [/TD][TD] 13 [/TD][TD] Paul Jordaan [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Marcel Brache [/TD][TD] 12 [/TD][TD] Meyer Bosman [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Gio Aplon [/TD][TD] 11 [/TD][TD] Sibusiso Sithole [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Burton Francis [/TD][TD] 10 [/TD][TD] Riaan Viljoen [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Dewaldt Duvenhage [/TD][TD] 9 [/TD][TD] Cobus Reinach [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Jebb Sinclair [/TD][TD] 8 [/TD][TD] Tera Mtembu [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Tyrone Holmes [/TD][TD] 7 [/TD][TD] Jean Deysel © [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Deon Fourie © [/TD][TD] 6 [/TD][TD] Jacques Botes [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] De Kock Steenkamp [/TD][TD] 5 [/TD][TD] Jandre Marais [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Don Armand [/TD][TD] 4 [/TD][TD] Steven Sykes [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Frans Malherbe [/TD][TD] 3 [/TD][TD] Wiehahn Herbst [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Tiaan Liebenberg [/TD][TD] 2 [/TD][TD] Craig Burden [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Deon Carstens [/TD][TD] 1 [/TD][TD] Dale Chadwick [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Siyabonga Ntubeni [/TD][TD] 16 [/TD][TD] Monde Hadebe [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Brok Harris [/TD][TD] 17 [/TD][TD] Julian Redelinghuys [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] JC Kritzinger [/TD][TD] 18 [/TD][TD] Peet Marais [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Wilhelm van der Sluys [/TD][TD] 19 [/TD][TD] Francois Kleinhans [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Louis Schreuder [/TD][TD] 20 [/TD][TD] Conrad Hoffmann [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Gary van Aswegen [/TD][TD] 21 [/TD][TD] Marius Joubert [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] Damian de Allende [/TD][TD] 22 [/TD][TD] Rosco Speckman [/TD][/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

No Ludik?

 

[Draggs]

No Ludik?

Probably being rested along with a few others.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

5 youngsters in the starting XV.... Me like!!!

 

[Draggs]

I hope we rotate between Botes and Kleinhans, I feel that Botes could be invaluable in the development of him and Cloete (who has apparently broken his leg, very unfortunate).
Deysel needs a good run of games, injury and the stunning form of Coetzee has limited his time this season.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Added both line-ups in a nice table to the OP.

 

[LittleGuy]

It's great to see the confidence that Coetzee has in Sinclair, definately a positive for Canadian rugby in general. Hopefully Jebb now has his fitness and conditioning in a better shape. That's a strong WP lineup, kind of regretting my Sharks by 5 pick on Superbru.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

This is what makes the Currie Cup so nice to watch. We see Prinsloo, Sithole, Reinach, Mtembu and Marais play for the Sharks. The prospects on the bench like Hadebe, Redelinghuys, Peet Marais, Kleinhans and Speckman are also very promising and this is where we see future Springboks announce themselves to the big stage!

 

[Draggs]

It's great to see the confidence that Coetzee has in Sinclair, definately a positive for Canadian rugby in general. Hopefully Jebb now has his fitness and conditioning in a better shape. That's a strong WP lineup, kind of regretting my Sharks by 5 pick on Superbru.

With all due respect, WP are missing probably half a dozen loose forwards, so it isn't so much confidence as necessity.
Thanks for your backing!

 

[LittleGuy]

Interesting to note the different strategies being played, Sharks seem to be building towards the long game getting some youngsters in there seeing what they can do establishing a core for down the road. WP look to be fielding as strong a side as possible, probably building the squad for mainly next year and having a strong go at taking the ***le.

@ Draggs, that's a good point, the Stormers have been through a lot of people at #6-8, but there are some talented names in that front five and backline, Sharks can win this but probably wishing I had taken WP by 3.

 

[Draggs]

Very green WP midfield, but we have Bosman so that will even things out.
With both Marais lads, PSdT, and Bresler, we have quite the young second row stockpile.
That being said, we've lost possibly half a dozen over 2-3 seasons.

 

[LittleGuy]

How are you rating the Sharks ***le chances Draggs and Zeq?

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Yeah, but the locks we lost were **** anyway.

Skeate, Sykes (unfortunately he's back), Hargreaves, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Albert van den Berg


We lost a few good ones. Gerhard Mostert and Johann Muller were big losses when they left.

 

[Draggs]

How are you rating the Sharks ***le chances Draggs and Zeq?

Very tough to call mate. Huge Reece-Edwards and Grant Bashford will be running the show while Plumtree steps back for the tournament, so I will be interested to see the changes they bring.
Without a doubt I want the lads to be bring the cup home again, but I also want to develop some new talent. Last season, to me, felt like we were simply 'playing matches'. What I mean to say is, we were picking 22 players and going out to play. It was a toss up between oldies and young players, with no real plan behind the selection.

If we can develop further depth in the forwards (specifically front row, and find another solid second row) and forge a good midfield partnership between Whitehead and Jordaan, I will be pleased. Frans will be first choice inside centre, but I really do like Tim, and we need a better rotation policy next S15. When fit, I'll put our first choice front row against anybody in the world, but beyond the Boks we look weak. Really looking for a big season from Jan Andre Marais, we need another quality second row to partner Anton. Du Toit will come into play during the second half of the season.

Back to the question! Not bad, really. Of course bets will be on Province, but I have confidence in our boys to make these matches count. What is crucial is not slipping up against the Lions or Griquas, as we so love to do.

With regards to Sinclair, I will be interested to see how he is against CC teams. He held his own in the S15 and I think he can certainly cut it here. He will probably be shifted between blindside and 8 depending on Vermeulen's fitness. Poor old Deon Fourie probably doesn't know what position he!

I liked Mostert, some didn't, however. We have similar feeling about Yikes, while Hargreaves just lacked something. Did we ever play Steenkamp? He was listed in our 2010 S14 team but I don't have any records of him playing. I wanted us to go after Ruan Botha, but considering our lock stocks, we would have too many sitting around.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

All depends on who is picked for the Boks. A guy like Aplon can make a huge difference and turn his team into a contender when not selected for the Boks. Same goes for guys like de Jongh, Kolisi, Vermeulen and for the Sharks Bresler, Ludik, Whitehead, Jordaan.

Also there's not much to say now with the players having to get used to each other. I guess the Cheetahs and Lions will have the least issues on that. The Lions only miss Jantjies while the Cheetahs have to do it without le Roux and Downey who represent Griquas at provincial level.

 

[Gena_ZA]

WP gona klap the Guppies, stop dreaming lads

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

It will be a very interesting match for sure! Going to add the vBookies for the Currie Cup later today.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

vBookie WP - Natal

Added the vBookie for the biggest clash of the weekend

 

[Feicarsinn]

I'll root for any and every team to play against Steven Skyes this season. What a bloody useless mug.

 

[Draggs]

I'll root for any and every team to play against Steven Skyes this season. What a bloody useless mug.

Agreed about the latter.
I still laugh when I recall some tipping him to play for Ireland.