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The Sharks host Griquas in the return leg Absa Currie Cup match – the first game of the second round – at The Absa Stadium Durban on Friday night with due respect for the team that inflicted their only defeat of in the first round.
The team announcement was left until after fullback Louis Ludik underwent a fitness test following the knock he took against Western Province last weekend. Unfortunately, he has not been given the all-clear and so will miss the match, Monty Dumond replacing him in the number 15 jersey.
The good news is that centre Andries Strauss has recovered sufficiently from the knock that he took early in that game while the loss of Ryan Kankowski to the Springbok Tri-Nations cause is the only non-injury related change.
“Andries Strauss has come through well – he trained well this week – which is great,” explained coach John Plumtree. “The pack pretty much stays the same apart from losing Ryan to the Boks so we've brought in Jacques Botes.”
The loss of Ross Skeate following a strain sustained in the gym this week opens the door for Anton Bresler to get another opportunity after featuring in the corresponding fixture in the first round; Michael Rhodes adds further depth on the bench. In other big news, Andre Pretorius looks set to make his debut for The Sharks after his rehabilitation period. He played 80 minutes of club rugby last weekend and has been named amongst the reserves.
Plumtree explained that team selection was a balancing act for the coaching staff. “There is going to be rotation in the second round at times and at other times, I'll stick with consistency, but it's important that everyone is up to speed in the squad. There is a bit of competition in certain positions, but without our Boks involved, we have to be wary of losing individuals to injury as that could stress our squad numbers, that's always a challenge.”
Despite some outstanding performances in recent weeks from The Sharks, there is the feeling that improvements each week, no matter how small, can only be to the team's benefit and are the stated goal.
“It's not really about aiming to peak at the end of the season, but making sure we look at constantly improving and maintaining our strengths. We want to play our best rugby each weekend and there are certain things we are still not happy about in our game which hopefully we'll see some improvement on for Friday night.”
The Sharks
15. Monty Dumond
14. Odwa Ndungane
13. Stefan Terblanche (Captain)
12. Andries Strauss
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Patrick Lambie
9. Charl McLeod
8. Keegan Daniel
7. Willem Alberts
6. Jacques Botes
5. Alistair Hargreaves
4. Steven Sykes
3. Wiehahn Herbst
2. Bismarck du Plessis
1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements
16. Craig Burden
17. Eugene van Staden
18. Anton Bresler
19. Michael Rhodes
20. Rory Kockott
21. Andre Pretorius
22. Riaan Swanepoel
http://www.sharksrugby.co.za/news/ge...ning_Stability
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