The Hollywoodbets Sharks will close out the year with a Vodacom United Rugby Championship coastal derby against old foes DHL Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
These two teams have a tumultuous history of huge battles over the years and a fixture featuring the pair of South African coastal teams is never without excitement or action.
It’s certainly an opportunity to place a marker in the sand – for both sides – who have greater aspirations for this intercontinental tournament that means so much to the participants.
Head coach John Plumtree has largely stuck to the same team he has named over the last number of fixtures, and with an extra week’s break since their last outing, will be looking for an explosive, high-intensity performance from his charges.
There are three changes to the starting line-up, with Emile van Heerden back to replace Le Roux Roets, while Jeandre “Lappies” Labuschagne comes in at flank, meaning a shift to eighthman for Phepsi Buthelezi in place of Sikhumbuzo Notshe.
Plumtree has made just one change to the backline, Jaden Hendrikse getting a start with Grant Williams playing off the bench in a straight jersey swap.
Fans will also get to see 27-year-old Joel Hintz for the first time in a Hollywoodbets Sharks jersey. The New Zealand prop was brought over to Durban as front row cover from 2020 National Provincial Championship title-holders Hawke’s Bay, while he has also turned out for the New England Free Jacks in Major League Rugby in the USA.
George Cronje returns to action in the penultimate change, with Boeta Chamberlain completing the rotation, taking over from Lionel Cronje.
Hollywoodbets Sharks
- Ox Nche
- Kerron van Vuuren
- Coenie Oosthuizen
- Eben Etzebeth
- Emile van Heerden
- James Venter
- Lappies Labuschagne
- Phepsi Buthelezi
- Jaden Hendrikse
- Curwin Bosch
- Makazole Mapimpi
- Francois Venter
- Lukhanyo Am (c)
- Werner Kok
- Aphelele Fassi
Replacements
- Daniel Jooste
- Ntuthuko Mchunu
- Joel Hintz*
- Corne Rahl
- George Cronje
- Grant Williams
- Boeta Chamberlain
- Ethan Hooker
*Denotes possible debut for the Hollywoodbets Sharks.
Players not available for selection due to injury
• Bongi Mbonambi
• Dylan Richardson
• Gerbrandt Grobler
• Nevaldo Fleurs
• Reniel Hugo
• Vincent Koch
• Vincent Tshituka
The post Derby Time appeared first on The Sharks Durban.
Although there is still some rugby taking place this weekend, the Hollywoodbets Sharks take a much-needed break from competitive action after two month and nine weekends that included Vodacom United Rugby Championship and EPCR Challenge Cup fixtures.
Since the start of the URC in October, it’s been something of a season of ups and downs. Not having their victorious Rugby World Cup winning Springboks available while the team went on a demanding four week tour to Europe was obviously a challenge for a team also facing a serious injury toll.
The return of their Boks marked a rise in the team’s stakes, and these players will be available for the remainder of the two tournaments. The shoe is on the other foot for the European sides competing in the Six Nations when they will be playing without their internationals between early February and mid March, although they will miss just two rounds.
After two weeks of Challenge Cup action, the Hollywoodbets Sharks are second in Pool 1, two points behind log leaders, the Toyota Cheetahs. Following the narrow defeat to the Free State side, head coach John Plumtree admitted his disappointment at a result that could so easily have gone the other way, outscoring their hosts 22-17 in the second half.
“We didn’t finish the game off when we were ahead, but I was proud of the way the boys pulled things back in the second half. The talk at half-time was about finding solutions to the issues we had and we did. We could have easily won that game, but our scrum wasn’t good enough in the end. But taking nothing away from the Cheetahs, they showed a lot of character. Coming back from Italy their week would have been compromised, but they have some really good players who wanted it badly.
“For me being a new coach, it’s about working out the strengths and weaknesses of the players and that’s what I’m still trying to do.
“We want to be successful, we want to do well in this [the Challenge Cup] competition, we want to win all the time.
“We won’t stop working and we won’t stop trying.”
The Hollywoodbets Sharks still have two more Challenge Cup games in the pool stages remaining, against Oyonnax at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on 13 January 2024, before heading overseas to take on Welsh side the Dragons eight days later, the side the Hollywoodbets Sharks defeated 69-14 in late November in Durban.
But before their Challenge Cup fixtures, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will head down to Cape Town for a third derby game in the same month, taking on the DHL Stormers on Saturday 30 December in a round 9 URC match to close out the year.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks are home to the Emirates Lions the following weekend in round 8 of the URC before reverting back to the Challenge Cup.
With the special day in sight, The Sharks would like to wish their fans, sponsors and partners a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2024.
The post A Christmas Break appeared first on The Sharks Durban.
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