Wentzel likely to take Sharks reins in Joburg duel
THE SHARKS are going to have to turn to their fourth captain in as many weeks as they once again get set to reshuffle their side for this Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Lions in Joburg.
After regular captain Bismarck du Plessis was suspended for his red card offence against the Chiefs on March 21, Jean Deysel stepped in as skipper against the Western Force before Pat Lambie took over the leadership reins last Saturday. Besides the absence of Du Plessis for another couple of weeks, Deysel yesterday copped a seven-week ban for his act of foul play against the Crusaders, while Lambie has been ruled out of action for at least six weeks with a neck injury.
When one considers that two other members of the team’s “captaincy group”, Frans Steyn and Tera Mtembu, are also unavailable as the result of a suspension and an injury respectively, it puts in perspective just how badly the Sharks’ leadership corps has been affected. A massive responsibility will now fall on the shoulders of the Sharks’ remaining senior players, with the Sharks desperately needing their senior players to lead from the front.
The captaincy is now expected to fall to veteran lock Marco Wentzel.
On the plus side, this week the Sharks welcome experienced flank Willem Alberts back from injury.
Unfortunately, though, JP Pietersen (pectoral injury) is still unavailable, but S’bura Sithole is back to full fitness and is expected to return.
Odwa Ndungane is a senior member of the squad with a massive role to play in these trying times. Yesterday he said the team still believed in their ability to turn things around after last Saturday’s heavy loss to the Crusaders. “There’s no doubt everyone was really disappointed. We let ourselves down in a huge way, especially to lose so badly at home.
“We’ve analysed the video and seen where we let ourselves down, we didn’t exit very well, which is a big thing. We put ourselves under pressure and they found holes in our defence, so that’s a big focus for us. We have another opportunity this weekend and we don’t have any choice but to put it right.”
Ndungane, in line for a shift to fullback this weekend, said: “Missing tackles like we did is unacceptable, especially against a side like the Crusaders. Knock-ons are part of the game, but if we don’t do the basics right, such as exiting from our own half and hanging on to the ball, then it makes life difficult. We have to execute better. We are focused on our set-piece, defence and our kicking game.”
The 34-year-old said it was not all doom and gloom in the Sharks camp. “We’re still joint top of the SA conference even though we haven’t been playing to our full potential. Sometimes you look back at that result and think maybe it was a good wake-up call, and we can only get better from here.
” The pressure is there... but the coaches have said we must still have licence to play our game and express ourselves. This weekend we look forward to repaying that faith in us.”