The departure of Johann Muller to Australia to join the Springboks will mean another change of captaincy when the Sharks travel to Wellington for Friday’s ABSA Currie Cup clash with the Boland Cavaliers.
Muller, after missing much of the season through an arm injury, was back in the saddle when the Sharks lost to Western Province in Durban last weekend. He had returned to rugby the previous week when the Sharks thumped Griquas 41-6 but Stefan Terblanche had retained the captaincy for that match to allow Muller to settle back in without having the additional pressure of having to lead the team.
After losing 21-9 to the Sharks at the weekend, his team’s second defeat of the season and with both of them with him as the captain, Muller quipped “Now Stefan is going to keep telling me about his 100% record as captain”.
But Terblanche won’t be talking to Muller at all for the next little while, for he will be taking charge of a team that will be without their experienced lock forward and regular team leader over the next two weekends. Muller was called up to join the Boks on the away leg of the Tri-Nations on Tuesday as a replacement for Andries Bekker and cover for the two lock replacements reportedly carrying niggles, Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw.
Albert van den Berg will probably slot into Muller’s place against the Cavaliers, who have had a poor season and are unlikely to stretch a Sharks team no doubt smarting from their defeat to WP. Where his absence might be more keenly felt, however, is in what is sure to be a keenly fought return clash with the Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday week.
Good news for the Sharks though is the return to fitness of former national age-group captain Alistair Hargreaves. The lock has been out of action since the Sharks’ fourth game of the Super 14 against the Blues with a foot injury which was initially supposed to take just a few weeks to heal but which eventually extended to several months. Word from Durban is that Hargreaves is ready to play immediately if required, but if he does play against Boland, it will probably be off the bench.
The bad news for the Sharks is that the injury to Wiehahn Herbst will, as coach John Plumtree puts it, “seriously stress our depth in that area”. The prop dislocated an ankle against WP and is out for the rest of the season.
Once the Bok reinforcements return from New Zealand and Australia the absence of Herbst, who played impressively after only recently being introduced to this level of rugby, won’t be so keenly felt. But the match at Loftus in 10 days time could have a vital impact on the Sharks’ chances of booking a home semi-final.
@Pietman – Pam brink met sy hoender stelasies en gras atletiek baan geel geryp in die winter nogal soos die ou vs-stadion brrr scary tuisveld van die ou rooi duiwels
@Weskus Germaan –
Geniet germaanster, al is nou nie Port Jollie daar nie…..maar eendag as eendag dan maak ons weer so by Mac se Baai.
Tjorts.
119@bdb –
gedigte en klassieke musiek
…
hmmm, klink vir my alte veel na kussingbyters!!
😆
Ok manne, raak na middernag hier.
Ek gaan my ‘nagwerk klere’ aantrek en omdop.
Tjeers eers.
Ons moet vir ‘Sodajoe’ ook oornooi hierheen, hy ken ook sy rugby, of is hy al hier onder ‘n ander ‘nick’ ?
123@ashley – wat is ‘n ‘kussingbyter’ … julle klomp al weer besig met jul eie woordeboek ?
125@bdb –
see #123
@PissAnt – 48 I would agree with that. A very good team but not great yet. The BIL proved that was the case. When I looked at last week’s game the 2nd time I realised the Aussies made two poor decisions. At around 62 minutes they elected to take a scrum instead of a straight forward kick. Then Gitau elected to drop kick a conversion, stupid. So there was 5 pts lost which would have made the game 30-32. True Steyn screwed up with his conversion so the score should have been 30-34. Too close IMO for a side to be called great. They do have a lot more potential that needs to be realised & they need to learn to put a ‘foot on the throat’ when holding a substantial lead. When that starts to happen on a consistent basis then you’ve got a great team.
@PissAnt – 49 Good comments again. I think coaches these days get too clever by half with substitutions. It is an 80 minute game, these guys are professionals & should be able to play a full game. Too many substitutions disrupt the rhythm of the of the team plus it’s very difficult for each sub to pick up the pulse of the game to be effective.
@Irish Devil – 52 lol. Good one Irish 🙂
Cav v Sharks, Leop v Griq, Cheetah v Lions, WP v Bulls…….
I thought the choices would be getting easier by this stage in the game!
Evening All, who has done their superbru?
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