Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Sharks may have a surprise for Pau
IT has been a week of deep introspection at the Shark Tank this week and expect unsuspecting French club Pau to walk into a Challenge Cup ambush at Hollywoodbets Kings Park this evening, 5.15pm kick-off.
Pau are fourth in the Top 14 but the team they have picked for this match has just three survivors from their last match, against Toulon, so they are resting players for this away match.
It wouldn’t matter if they are at full strength — they are going to get a deeply motivated Sharks side that was much chastised in the wake of their 54-10 defeat to the Bulls last week.
On that scoreline, a point of interest is that this was the exact scoreline when the Sharks lost a Currie Cup final to the Bulls at Loftus in 2021.
Sharks fans may not want to hear this but sometimes the Bulls are hard to stop on a summer’s afternoon at altitude. The Bulls played some sublime rugby and I don’t think a team in the world would have beaten them last Saturday.
Still, Sharks coach John Plumtree felt that some of his players did not pull their weight.
Yesterday, the Sharks broke their media silence for the week when attack coach Dave Williams spoke at the team announcement press conference. He confirmed Plumtree’s promise to deliver an “ugly” review of the game to the players on Monday.
“We had a reflective review on the performance,” Williams said with a hint of understatement. “John let go with an honest appraisal. The response has been outstanding, there is a real commitment to the case. It was a productive review.”
Unquestionably the Sharks will be mentally stronger this evening but they have also been physically boosted by the return of some powerful bodies.
The Sharks were short of firepower in Pretoria and their set piece suffered. It should be better because of the following changes.
At loosehead prop, Springbok Ox Nche starts, swapping jerseys with Ntuthuko Mchunu who has carried a heavy workload over the past two months while burly Kerron van Vuuren returns at hooker.
The Sharks’ second-row stocks are up with the return of Le Roux Roets to the team after a long-term injury, with the big enforcer adding value off the bench. Also back from injury is the youngster Corne Rahl, who was a late withdrawal from the team that lost to the Vodacom Bulls.
The loose forward trio of James Venter, Phepsi Buthelezi and Sikhumbuzo Notshe remains in place, while the Springbok scrumhalf duo of Grant Williams and Jaden Hendrikse swap jerseys. In the final change, Marnus Potgieter returns to action instead of Aphiwe Dyantyi on the wing.
Junior Springbok centre Ethan Hooker could make his debut for the Sharks from the bench.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Marnus Potgieter, 13 Lukhanyo Am (c), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Corne Rahl, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Ethan Hooker.