Venter can’t wait to face his old side

SUPER Rugby earlier this year, and now Friday’s Super Rugby Unlocked opener against the Lions, amount to a happy homecoming for James Venter, the Sharks flank that was under- utilised by the Joburg team not so long ago but is now prospering back in his home town.

Venter was signed by the Lions after finishing school in Durban in 2015 but was lured back to KZN by Sharks coach Sean Everitt, and the 24- year- old hit the ground running with excellent performances in the Sharks’ surge to the top of the Super Rugby standings.

It was Venter’s 40m try against the Highlanders in Dunedin in February that propelled his team to victory while firmly announcing his arrival at the Sharks.

When lockdown came in March, Venter was entrenched as the Sharks’ openside flank in a game plan designed by Everitt that had the Sharks’ reverting to a “fetcher” for the first time in many seasons.

In fact, Everitt had specifically gone after Venter – who had mostly been sitting on the bench at the Lions – because of his ability to force turnovers at the breakdown, and counter- attacking rugby is what Everitt wanted for the Sharks.

At 1.82m and 92 kgs, Venter has the compact build suited for a breakaway flank. He is a similar type of player to the brilliant Heinrich Brussow, the Springbok that in 2009 excelled against the British and Irish Lions under coach Peter de Villiers only to find his style of loose forward play go out of fashion with subsequent coaches.

Everitt, though, is a strong believer in fielding an out- and- out fetcher.

“The coach wants me to hit breakdowns hard, looking for the turnovers,” Venter says. “That physical approach to the breakdowns molds the openside position, so being able to go out and play my natural game complements what Sean wants and makes my game very enjoyable.”

The Sharks ( and Venter) never got to play the Lions in Super Rugby earlier this year because of lockdown, so he will be relishing this opportunity on Friday night to beat his old team.

“The camp is really excited,” he said. “We knew going into the ( Superfan) game against the Bulls that it was just a warm- up. We took that in our stride. That week was just based on pre- season and still prepping for the Lions.

“We learned a lot from that game. The guys have trained hard and the vibe has been great. We are really excited to get back into Super Rugby Unlocked.”

Venter said the Sharks are well aware of the threat posed by Lions captain Elton Jantjies, who will be very much in the flanker’s sights.

“We as a squad have looked at the Lions in depth. Obviously, Elton is their leader and being their flyhalf, he controls the game,” Venter said. “For us, it’s about identifying that and knowing that is where a lot of their strengths lie. We have been formulating processes and methods to maybe nullify him or just control his abilities.”

* Southern Kings stars Yaw Penxe and Thembelani Bholi have joined the Sharks on short- term loans. Wing/ fullback Penxe ( 23) and blindside flank/ lock Bholi ( 29) joined the Sharks yesterday from the disbanded Port Elizabeth franchise and will provide quality depth in their positions. Penxe, a lively runner, was one of the revelations of the recent Springbok Showdown in Cape Town.