Sharks clash with WP could hinge on Du Toit

through injury, regular bencher Monde Hadebe will make his first start of the season in the last round- robin game.

With the tournament heading into the business end next week, it is a necessary depth test the Sharks require, but also though there is the small matter of Du Toit playing his second professional game at Newlands.

His Cape Town debut was the convincing 34-10 Super Rugby win against the Stormers, which also happened to be a final round-robin fixture.

While the 19-year-old Paarl Boys High product has prior experience of the ground through games played there as a schoolboy, there is no sentiment attached to his Newlands return.

“I have played at Newlands once or twice and it is an amazing atmosphere. However, there is always that bit within you that wants to beat the team you are playing against and that will not change the way we want to play,” Du Toit said.

That is set to be the only change in the Sharks pack as Western Province’s pack, even though it is abrasive, is not known as a particularly strong scrumming unit.

They are more reliant on their locks and loose-forwards to provide a strong secondary shove, despite the likes of novice prop Alistair Vermaak coming on in leaps and bounds this season.

There is also a likely change in the backline with Paul Jordaan’s broken hip necessitating a change at centre, which could see Sibusiso Sithole partnering Andre Esterhuizen at centre.

While goalkicking separated the Lions and the Sharks on Friday, Lionel Cronje’s dynamism from the flyhalf channel should be enough to keep him in at 10, despite missing training on Monday.

The Sharks have not been talking about the bonus point because it could be irrelevant should the Lions get past the Cheetahs. The Sharks know they have a date with the Lions next week, but where that fixture will take place will be determined by the 3pm Ellis Park kick-off.

With a fresh breath of youthful exuberance, Du Toit was not worried by the early kick-off, especially with the safety cushion of the knowledge of the already-secured semifinal berth.

“The perspective of playing in the later game is going to be exactly the same in terms of playing in a semi-final and, should we get there, the final,” Du Toit said.