The second round of this year’s Currie Cup competition commences this weekend when the Cell C Sharks host the Free State Cheetahs in our return leg match at Growthpoint KINGS PARK on Saturday.
In changes from the side that defeated Western Province last week, Kobus van Wyk picked a groin injury against Western Province last weekend and is unavailable for the match. His place on the wing is taken by debutant Tythan Adams in the only change to the backline, while a fit again Keegan Daniel comes into the side on the flank to take the place of Tyler Paul who has shifted to lock in place of Jean Droste who plays off the bench after breaking his nose last Saturday.
The front row shows three changes, Thomas du Toit returns from injury to replace the injured Juan Schoeman and at tighthead John-Hubert Meyer replaces the injured Ross Geldenhuys with Akker van der Merwe swopping places at hooker with Franco Marais.
Curwin Bosch returned to Durban on Tuesday afternoon and was not considered for selection this week, due to him having missed the Monday and Tuesday training sessions. He will most definitely be in contention for next week’s match.
Fullback Inny Radebe hopes to see an all-round performance from the Cell C Sharks, one where they produce on attack and defence.
“While we enjoy playing attacking rugby, we also have a strong focus on our defence and we felt we defended well against Western Province last week, where they only scored two tries after scoring a number against the Lions the previous week. So as much as we want to keep the ball in hand and play an attacking style of rugby, we still need to make sure our defence works; it’s something we pride ourselves on.”
Another all-round performance that has been spoken of is the strong second half showing, which he puts down to the team’s conditioning.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on our conditioning in order to be able to finish off tight games in the closing stages of the game.
Although talk of revenge for the first round loss to Free State is unwise, certainly the understrength Cell C Sharks in round one are of a more experienced nature now and will be looking to go top of the log this weekend – which they will do if they beat the log leaders.
“We aren’t revengeful at all, we just want to build on the past five weeks, we have some nice momentum going and we’d like to build on that,” he explains. “We’ll take positives out of the Western Province game and work on the things we lacked in that game, one of which was creating lots of opportunities but not finishing them.”
In the lead-up to National Sunflower Day, the Cell C Sharks will be showing their support for the Sunflower Fund and the #iamhope campaign by wearing yellow armbands for the match against Free State.
| The Cell C Sharks |
Replacements |
||
| 1 | Thomas du Toit | 16 | Franco Marais |
| 2 | Akker van der Merwe | 17 | Mzamo Majola |
| 3 | John-Hubert Meyer | 18 | Jean Droste |
| 4 | Tyler Paul | 19 | Wian Vosloo |
| 5 | Ruan Botha (Captain) | 20 | Michael Claassens |
| 6 | Keegan Daniel | 21 | Marius Louw |
| 7 | Jacques Vermeulen | 22 | Garth April |
| 8 | Tera Mtembu | ||
| 9 | Louis Schreuder | ||
| 10 | Benhard Janse van Rensburg | ||
| 11 | S’bu Nkosi | ||
| 12 | Lukhanyo Am | ||
| 13 | Jeremy Ward | ||
| 14 | Tythan Adams | ||
| 15 | Inny Radebe |
The post Second Round Commencement appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
The 22nd edition of the Mark Godefroy Talent ID Festival commences this Friday, 1st September at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi. Hosted this year, by the Durban Rugby Sun-Union, this three-day festival brings together U/12, U/15 and U/17 development players from the five sub-unions across our province.
In line with our commitment to grow the game in our province, The KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union runs an extensive rugby development program in the various districts throughout the year. The purpose of this programme is to take the game to previously disadvantaged local communities and for the youngsters in these areas to learn and play the game. The development programme for the year culminates with the hosting of the Talent ID Festival.
The festival has produced many players who have gone on to represent our province at age-group and senior level. Stand-out players from the festival also stand a chance of receiving bursaries to attend some of the top rugby schools in the province.
In 2017, approximately 500 people, comprising of kids and coaches will converge in Umlazi to participate in three days of fixtures, which the fixtures on day 2 and 3 being strength versus strength.
Commenting on the festival, the KZNRU General Manager, Siseko Jafta said: “We are delighted to be hosting the Talent ID Festival in Durban. The on-going success of this festival is testament to all the hardwork and effort that is put in by the KZNRU Development Department and the development officers employed throughout the province. Another crucial element is strong backing and support and to this end, the KZNRU thanks SARU, the KZN Department of Sport and Recreation and the Ethekweni Municipality for their involvement and investment in the festival.”
The KZNRU looks forward to another success festival and hopes that the young players will carry with them the great memories and friendships made at this festival, for years to come.
The post KZNRU TALENT ID FESTIVAL appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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