Like all the Currie Cup rugby teams, the Sharks are going to have to pin their hopes on a second successive title win on the ‘youth brigade’. The age factor within the Sharks set-up is best highlighted by the age of their new captain. Lubabalo Mtembu has been announced at the teams first black captain (a move that is being praised by sportsmen and politicians alike in South Africa), but at just 23 the loose forward is far younger than most of the captains he will be meeting during the tournament.
Currie Cup Rugby: Sharks Preview
However, Jake White and Juan Smith, who were in control of the selection, are confident with their pick and believe Mtembu has the heart and the brain to make this captaincy his time to shine as a leader of a team (which is searching for their second successive win in tournament) who has formally been under the control of some pretty impressive names.
Despite losing big names to Springbok selection as well as the calling of greener grass in the North, the Sharks have some young players looking to permanently cement their names on radars country wide.
Living in the shadow of Bismarck du Plessis can’t be easy for any player trying to prove themselves worthy of selection. But with du Plessis away for international duty, Kyle Cooper will be stepping into the shoes of starting hooker and hoping to show he is just as reliable as the Springbok great.
Charl Mcleod’s departure to France and Cobus Reinach’s call-up to the national squad has left the scrumhalf position wide open for someone else to step into. After being coaxed back to the Sharks from Australia, Conrad Hoffman will be hoping that position has his name on it. However, he will be presented with stiff competition from Cameron Wright who will want to that number nine jersey on his shoulders.
The Sharks lose both Pat Lambie and Frans Steyn in the flyhalf position creating a huge gap to fill both on and off the field. Fred Zeilinga will be more than happy to step up and fill the spot. With both Lambie and Steyn absent, it will also allow Zeilinga ample time to make this position his own but at the same time will be adding extra pressure to him to fill in the accurate kicking Lambie possesses as well as the monstrous kicks Steyn manages to pull off.
Before the beginning of the Super Rugby season, Coach Jake White made a point to emphasis the way in which he had hoped the Sharks would play. Using the pace of S’bura Sithole and Paul Jordaan, the Sharks were meant to run with ball in hand. However, this is not what the fans got and the bulk of the work was done by the vastly experience forward pack. But now the Sharks are without the bulk of the technical dream team and will simply need to rely less on technique and more on pace and finding the gaps to run with the ball. To put it simply, it is time for the backline to step up and work for their earnings.
Natal Sharks team:
Lourens Adriaanse, Dale Chadwick, Jannie du Plessis, Thomas du Toit, Danie Mienie, Tendai Mtawaira, Matt Stevens, Kyle Cooper, Bismarck du Plessis, Monde Hadebe, Franco Marais, JC Astle, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Wiehan Hay, Stephan Lewies, Etienne Oosthuizen, Marco Wentzel, Willem Alberts, Jacquez Botes, Marcell Coetzee, Ryan Kankowski, Francois Kleinhans, Khya Majola, Johan Meyer, Tera Mtembu (c), Conrad Hoffman, Cobus Reinach, Stefan Ungerer, Hanco Venter, Cameron Wright, Lionel Cronje, Pat Lambie, Tim Swiel, Fred Zeilinga, Andre Esterhuizen, Tyler Fisher, Paul Jordaan, Frans Steyn, Heimar Williams, Tonderai Chavhanga, Sizo Maseko, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, S’bura Sithole, SP Marais, Jaco van Tonder
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