The Cell C Sharks end off the pool stages of this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby tournament against the Sunwolves on Friday evening at Growthpoint KINGS PARK with the all-important task of securing a place in the play-offs.
With a two log point lead over the Bulls, victory against the Japanese will guarantee them wildcard entry into the knock-out round ahead of the Pretoria side who are traveling to Bloemfontein to take on the Cheetahs.
Director of Rugby Gary Gold has made a number of changes to his team with the possibility that Pat Lambie could play, having been pencilled in along with Curwin Bosch on the bench.
Jean-Luc du Preez took a knock on the weekend and was struggling with a bit of concussion and has been rested this week, with Tera Mtemba starting in his place.
“Hopefully Pat will be back sooner rather than later but you can’t mess around with concussion and we certainly won’t. But there are definite signs of improvement, said Gary Gold.
He advised that Willie le Roux wasn’t available this week, “but I am optimistic that he will be available next week.”
While Gold had pointed to looking at giving combinations the opportunity to gel ahead of the knock-outs, he admitted that there was a temptation to rest some of his players, particularly the Boks who had carried a heavy workload over June.
“We’ve given Beast a rest, he played every Test match, and we have every confidence in guys like Thomas du Toit and Dale Chadwick. It’s about getting the balance right: there’s not point in pushing a guy to the limit this week if he’s not going to be available next week. And in trying to get the balance right, the last two weeks’ selections have been difficult. You want to perform well but you don’t necessarily want to pick a new-look team where everyone feels like he has to start from scratch.”
It is also rather fitting that JP Pietersen, the Cell C Sharks most capped Super Rugby player and top try-scorer, has been chosen to lead the side in his final farewell home match over a career in Durban spanning more than 10 years. Growthpoint KINGS PARK is a place that has meant so much to him for over a decade
With this being the Sunwolves’ final match of their maiden year in Vodacom Super Rugby, despite there being nothing to play for, Gold is expecting the Japanese outfit to thrown everything into this match.
“They’re physical guys, upfront they’re pretty tough and they’ve never really given up in any game this year, so for them to finish on a high, there’s not question that they will give their all.
The Cell C Sharks
- Rhyno Smith
- Odwa Ndungane
- JP Pietersen (Captain)
- Andre Esterhuizen
- Lwazi Mvovo
- Garth April
- Stefan Ungerer
- Philip van der Walt
- Tera Mtembu
- Keegan Daniel (VC)
- Ruan Botha
- Etienne Oosthuizen
- Coenie Oosthuizen
- Chiliboy Ralepelle
- Thomas du Toit
Replacements
- Kyle Cooper
- Dale Chadwick
- Lourens Adriaanse
- Stephan Lewies
- Jean Deysel
- Michael Claassens
- Curwin Bosch/Pat Lambie
- Heimar Williams
The post Make or Break appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
Full article here: Sharks Rugby – sbuki1030
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