The Cell C Sharks Under 20s travel to Olen Park in Potchefstroom to take on their Leopards counterparts in the final pool match of the SA Rugby Under 20 Championship this weekend looking to finish off on a high ahead of the knock-outs.
The Under 20s are in third place on the log following a productive, if not inspired run of recent form that includes a massive 102-6 victory over the Eastern Province Elephants last weekend when the Durban side ran in an incredible 16 tries, including four from replacement hooker Jacques Marais.
The Leopards are four points from a top four finish – they currently occupy fifth spot on the log – and will treat this game as a final.
“The Leopards are a totally different prospect to EP,” admits head coach Mike Vowles.
“Traveling to Potch is never easy, the Leopards are quite a force to be reckoned with when they play at home, they seem to up their game there, so we’re expecting a huge physical challenge.
“I think they will really look to get stuck into us, they’re a team that backs their line-out maul when they scrum for penalties and it will certainly be a tougher challenge [than last week] but we’re obviously taking a lot of confidence out of our performances and we will stick to our plan and try play our style of rugby rather than adapting to what they bring.
“The bottom line is that we have to front up to the physicality and intensity they are going to bring and instil our game on them. We have to start well in order to lay a platform and then build on that, and build on the confidence and accuracy that we’ve shown in the last few weeks.”
With four Under 20s featuring for the Cell C Sharks in their Carling Currie Cup triumph over Griquas, it’s been a balancing act for the coaches but they have every faith in their squad.
“It’s a challenging week with a couple of guys up with the Currie Cup side, but our larger squad is strong and we back the players on the fringes so they get an opportunity this week, which is great.”
Cell C Sharks Under 20s
1. Phatu Ganyane
2. Marnus Winter
3. Nash Mhere
4. Andrew Beyrooti
5. Corne Rahl (c)
6. Damon Royle
7. Enos Ndiao
8. Nick Hatton
9. Bradley Davids
10. Jean Smith
11. Siviwe Zondani
12. Ethan Hooker
13. Brandon Wilkie
14. Beanie Britz
Replacements
16. Jacques Marais
17. Braam Reyneke
18. Dian Heunis
19. Coetzee Le Roux
20. Luca Ribbens
21. Josh Miller
22. Ryan Manuel
23. Matthew Jacobs
The post Ending with a Bang appeared first on The Sharks.
Cell C Sharks vs The Emirates Lions Match Preview:
When the Cell C Sharks host the Emirates Lions at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday afternoon in a local Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby, they will know they’ve been in a fight.
After taking on international opposition over the last month or so, the South African sides are now engaged in local derbies and this offers the opportunity to measure how far they’ve come.
Cell C Sharks head coach Sean Everitt admits that they are aware of the enormity of what’s to come against a Lions’ side that has enjoyed much improvement in recent weeks.
“We know that the Lions have come a long way from where they were, especially in the derby games and they’ve grown a lot over the last few weeks, so we know we face a big challenge on Saturday,” Everitt explains.
“All the teams have improved as the tournament has gone on and that’s to be expected when teams have played together for some time, it’s the first time in a long time that we’ve had a string of fixtures together and it’s a good measure of where we are.”
Identifying the key areas of improvement for the Lions, the Cell C Sharks coach believes that it’s more than just one area.
“If you look at their results since Jordan Hendrikse has been back, they have improved a lot, but one also has to give credit to their defence, they have defended with a lot of character and energy and I think that’s the area they’ve improved in the most.
“We also know the Lions go hard at the ball at defensive breakdowns so we’re going to have to be sharp when we have ball in hand.”
Everitt’s hopes for his own team’s performance centre strongly on closing out the opportunities created, and area they have had mixed results in.
“Over the last couple of weeks, we had that tough result against Edinburgh, we dominated every aspect of that game but didn’t get over the chalk. I though we strung some phases together and played some attacking rugby when presented with the opportunity against the Dragons last Friday.
“We all understand where the Dragons are on the log, but they put out a stronger team than the one against the Bulls the previous week and in saying that, to put 50 points on a team you have to be playing really well.”
Although the Cell C Sharks scrum has been dominating opponents recently, they’re up against a formidable unit and the set-piece provides a good opportunity for further measurement.
“It’s a challenge we’re looking forward to, there’s been a lot of talk about the Lions’ scrum and deservedly so,” Everitt explains. “They have the most effective scrum in the competition, winning the most scrum penalties which has allowed their loose forwards to get into the game and they’re playing really good rugby at the moment.
“But we’ve been very good over the last few weeks, we’ve got ascendancy over the opposition which has given us good field position. “It’s going to be an interesting tussle, we have the incumbent Springbok front row and we know they pose a threat there, as they did at Emirates Airline Park when we played them in the first round.”
The post Cell C Sharks vs The Emirates Lions Match Preview appeared first on The Sharks.
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