Beast, Dan du Preez on Sharks bench
Sharks coach Rob du Preez has named two of his Springboks on the bench for their opening Super Rugby clash against the Lions this weekend.
Beast Mtawarira and Dan du Preez will provide some serious firepower in the latter stages of the match, with their coach wanting to ease them into action in the first week of the season.
Mtawarira is coming off a month-long break while Dan du Preez is in a similar boat, with his father not wanting to rush the number 8 into the thick of things with a start against the Lions.
Juan Schoeman gets a start at loosehead prop this weekend, while the Sharks loose trio features Jacques Vermuelen at openside, Philip van der Walt at blindside and veteran Keegan Daniel at number 8.
In the backline, Rob du Preez Jr starts at flyhalf with Springbok Curwin Bosch on the bench as both flyhalf and fullback cover. It will be the first Super Rugby appearance in Sharks jersey for the coach's eldest son. The same goes for wing Makazole Mapimpi as well as hooker Akker van der Merwe.
The hulking figure of Andre Esterhuizen is a notable selection at inside centre. He recently returned from a stint in Japan but didn’t feature in either one of the Sharks warm-up matches. Coach Du Preez has selected the experienced campaigner to resume what was a deadly partnership with Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am.
However, that leaves no place in the match day squad for Marius Louw, who was in fine form in the number 12 jumper in the Sharks’ warm-up matches.
“Andre has played a lot of rugby in Japan and we wanted to give him a bit of a break when he got back. Marius has performed well for us, it was a tough decision but we know he’ll feature in the games going forward,” Du Preez said.
Franco Marais has cracked the nod to start at hooker after a phenomenal 2017, with Akker van der Merwe providing cover. Although selection in that position was another poser for the Sharks coach.
“We’ve got four or five very good hookers in this province. A guy like Kerron has worked incredibly hard and he’s not getting any game time at this stage. This weekend is horses for courses, we’ve gone with Franco and Akker on the bench, we want to give Akker a go against his old teammates.”
The Sharks meet the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday. Kickoff is at 17h15, with New Zealander Glen Jackson as the referee.
Sharks team:
14. Sbu Nkosi
13. Lukhanyo Am
12. Andre Esterhuizen
11. Makazole Mapimpi
10. Robert du Preez
9. Cameron Wright
8. Keegan Daniel
7. Jacques Vermeulen
6. Philip van der Walt
5. Stephan Lewies
4. Ruan Botha (c)
3. Thomas du Toit
2. Franco Marais
1. Juan Schoeman
Replacements
16. Akker van der Merwe
17. John-Hubert Meyer
18. Beast Mtawarira
19. Hyron Andrews
20. Daniel du Preez
21. Michael Claassens
22. Curwin Bosch
23. Kobus van Wyk