Sharks bulk up for Lions challenge

The Durban outfit has a new-look midfield combination for their third match of the domestic competition against the Highveld side - who have been touted as the tournament favourites.

The young Andre Esterhuizen moves to his preferred position at inside centre and links up with Paul Jordaan at 13. The latter has made a full recovery from a horrific hip-injury in last year’s Currie Cup and had an impressive cameo off the bench against the EP Kings last weekend.

S’bura Sithole also makes a return from injury after missing out last week. He starts on the left wing, while former Springbok scrumhalf Michael Claassens earns his first start this season.

Forwards coach Ryan Strudwick might have preferred to talk about the murky-underworld of scrumming and lineouts, but was on hand to explain the changes to the Sharks backline.

“We wanted to bolster our team and we’ve had a few guys coming back. S’bura coming in is a bonus and obviously some guys have to miss out. We have gone with hopefully our best team to take on the Lions side,”  Strudwick explained.

“We’ve been playing Andre out of position on the wing but he’s been playing really well. His favourite position is 12 and we think he will be a big factor there. With S’bura coming back, we needed to find a place for him because he’s one of the most experienced Currie Cup campaigners we’ve got – we’ve drafted him back to the wing. We’ve also got Paul back, he’s come through his injuries quite nicely and he’s raring to go – we saw what he can do last week in the time that he came on and he has that x-factor. We think that the combination of Andre and Paul in the midfield is our strongest. Obviously Wandile Mjekevu misses out, but he drops onto the bench and will come on as an impact for us,” Strudwick said.

The forward pack also features a couple of changes. Jean Deysel injured his tricep last weekend and is replaced by Francois Kleinhans. It is the third change of guard at openside flank in as many games, but Strudwick was confident Kleinhans would take his chance after a year of injury woes.

“It’s great for 'Frana' to get a chance. He’s trained immensely hard and he’s had a frustrating first half of the year with injuries, but I think he’s back to his best. It’s nice for him to go out and prove himself.  He’s got a great work rate and he’s just needs to cut out those little errors. We need someone to curb the pace and skill the Lions flanks have.”

He certainly will be busy, as the Lions have two very mobile flanks in Blitzbokke star Kwagga Smith and their skipper Jaco Kriel on either side of the scrum.

Most pundits would consider putting money down on the Lions to win this weekend’s clash despite the fact that their playing away from home. Sharks captain Marco Wentzel conceded that the Lions were going into the clash as favourites.

“It’s fair to say we are the underdogs, we can say it honestly. We’ve won a game and lost a game and we haven’t played well for 80 minutes in either of those games. The Lions are a team that has been together for a while, but we’ve got the Sharks jersey on and we’re playing at home so I’m not writing us off.”

The Sharks host the Lions at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday. Kickoff is at 17h05.

Teams:

Sharks:

Joe Pietersen, Odwa Ndungane, Paul Jordaan, Andre Esterhuizen, S’bura Sithole, Lionel Cronje, Michael Claassens, Philip van der Walt, Daniel du Preez, Francois Kleinhans, Marco Wentzel (captain), Etienne Oosthuizen, Thomas du Toit, Monde Habede, Dale Chadwick. Replacements: Franco Marais, Gerhard Engelbrecht, Dave McDuling, Jean-Luc du Preez, Stefan Ungerer, Wadile Mjekevu, SP Marais.

Lions:

Jaco van der Walt, Ruan Combrinck, Stokkies Hanekom, Howard Mnisi, Courtnall Skosan, Marnitz Boshoff, Ross Cronjé, Ruaan Lerm, Kwagga Smith, Jaco Kriel (c), Franco Mostert, MB Lusaseni, Julian Redelinghuys, Robbie Coetzee, Ruan Dreyer.
Subs: Malcolm Marx, Jacques van Rooyen, Martin Muller, Steph de Wit, Ricky Schroeder, Alwyn Hollenbach, Anthony Volmink.

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