It will raise some eyebrows, but Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White feels his team selection could be a pointer for Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
While some will debate the decision to name young Fred Zeilinga at flyhalf, in the starting XV to face the Waratahs in Durban on Saturday, it is the selection of Lwazi Mvovo at fullback that sparked the most interest.
The Bok wing, Mvovo, who has seven Test caps for South Africa, was shifted to No 15 and SP Marais dropped to the bench.
rugby365
White, who said it has been a bit “daunting” the last couple of weeks injury-wise, said he needed to find room for both Ndungane and Mvovo.
White even drew comparisons with Bok legend Percy Montgomery, when justifying his decision to select Mvovo in the unfamiliar role of fullback.
“He’s got things Percy could do, he’s really quick and he likes broken field play,” White said at a press conference ahead of the game.
“If the Waratahs kick, which they don’t do much, Lwazi is probably the guy that will capitalise most.”
Mvovo, 27, has 57 Super Rugby caps for the Durban-based franchise and White felt his form this season would have made it difficult to drop him after the availability of Ndungane, who returns after compassionate leave.
“Lwazi is probably one of our form backs and now that Odwa’s come back, it’s not a case of finding a place for Lwazi, he just merits himself a place in the team,” White said.
“There’s no reason why he can’t play fullback and I’m quite excited.
“I believe with Gio Aplon going to France, there is no reason why a guy like Lwazi isn’t good enough to play fullback for SA.”
White also spoke of the pace his outside backs possess.
“We’ve got Sithole, Odwa, JP and Lwazi, the four are probably the quickest guys in our franchise.
“I think it’s going to be exciting to see them run.
“Lwazi’s really played well right through the season so far.”
White made four changes in total to his side, another unfamiliar one being the shifting of Willem Alberts to lock instead of the injured Anton Bresler with Jean Deysel coming in at flank.
The flyhalf position, vacated by a six-month injury lay-off to Patrick Lambie, went to Fred Zeilinga, while Charl McLeod would complete a new halfback pairing after Cobus Reinach fractured his hand in the 19-23 loss to the Bulls last week.
“Ideally I’d like Cobus and Pat to be playing, but in the Currie Cup last year Charl played most of the time with Fred,” White said of the No 9 and No 10 positions.
“So it’s a change but they’ve played a lot together and I don’t think it’s a disruption.”
White admitted that Steyn was still the preferred flyhalf option in the absence of Lambie, with Zeilinga well aware of his thinking.
“I’m still considering Frans there, it’s not ideal and wasn’t obviously first prize,” he said.
“I’d like Frans to have stayed there and Fred knows that Frans can slot in there.
“Paul Jordaan comes back next week and can play No 12 and No 13, so there are lots of exciting things that can still happen.”
Despite the gloom around Kings Park over the latest injury setbacks, there is some good news with the return of former captain Keegan Daniel to the bench.
Heimar Williams also returns, while Stefan Ungerer is in line for his debut after coming in as scrumhalf cover.
Jake, the man with the jaw which just would not stop…..
He must be insane, surely!
Onthou jy ek het destyds gese dat hy net so baie praat soos Divvie, Div het net snaakser geklink met sy Hellium enhanced stem.
Het Mvovu al OOIT heelagter gespeel?
Het hy nie ook spelers toe hy Bok afrigter was uit posisie opgehemel nie?
He is just talking his guy up. Hoop die Waratahs maak my pick waar. Ek wag in spanning.
What exactly has SP Marais done wrong at fullback? And now Mvovo could play there for the Boks? Come now, Jake.
@ kaksioek:
Maybe he had too much , or he missed his meds
4 @ superBul:
Donnnnerrrrrr,
Daai Notebook van jou IS moer stadig… ek het nou al klompie artikels geskrywe, Weekend Teams ge-update… my hele aandete geëet en paar ander dinge tussendeur gedoen en wag nog steeds vir die ding oor Teamviewer om eenvoudige takies te verrig!
PS! Dis dinge soos die, van Jake White, wat my ‘n absolute renons in die man gee… hy is wragtig ‘n sponsparra, die ene!
Basically he just says, Lwazi could be a bok fullback… he is just trying to talk some confidence in him. Nothing to see here, give Mvovu a shot…
But play Botes FFS
6 @ MacroBull:
Moet jy hom nie Oom Jacques Botes noem nie?
Hahahaha
@ grootblousmile:
ek sien jy sukkel met die bloody ding. Wat is dit n virus of spyware?
@ grootblousmile:
haha daai oom kan nog goeie rugby speel
8 @ superBul:
Weet nog nie… steeds besig om kak en hare af te haal
I don’t believe this will be the run on team.
This is the Sharks we are talking about and now they have an even bigger bullshit artist in charge than Plum was.
Expect Fransie to run on as 10 and probably another reshuffle in the backline.
Sharks should win at home against any team, especially one that just travelled, but I still went Waratahs, hoping they click and hoping a neutral ref will be partial for a change.
I’m not expecting to get any Bru points on this game, but one may hope
@ nortierd:
So you “hope” the Sharks lose to an Aussie team – why is that? Let me guess, it’s simply because you picked them on Bru – and someone held a gun to your head and forced you to do it. I bet it’s eating you alive that Folau won’t play against the Sharks, but probably will play against the Stormers! Ag shame, man 😆
Pity about Folau, he was my fantasy league captain till his injury, good for 40 plus points most games.
As for my pick, the Waratahs stand a good chance, so I’m hoping for an upset.
Last I checked, I don’t support the Sharks, so I don’t care if they lose
Too bad Israel isn’t able to front the Sharks this weekend. As I predicted on another forum from day one, ” Folau will be a Superstar”…another Rugby League Phenom. Still believe his absence will not stop the Warratahs from taking advantage of a Sharks drop in form…
14 @ Te Rangatira:
First comment here… welcome again
Hi TR, welcome
Don’t diss the Golden Era fans 🙂 they might try to convert you too
@TR
I saw in the latest Spiro column on the Roar he mentions he heard gossip that JK and Benji had a falling out and Benji is looking to return to league again because of that.
Wonder if there is any truth there, after his cameo against the Lions one would have expected him to feature against the Cheetahs
Jake has got a great poker face in the photo above, but you can see that Mvovo simply doesn’t believe him.
@ nortierd:
I don’t know about that Nortie, haven’t been on the Roar for awhile. Benji isn’t what he was, when he was on top of his game in RL. Left it too late in his career to switch codes. JK should know how hard it is to make the switch so late in ones career, as he was average when he switched to the Warriors.
@ grootblousmile:
Cheers Buddy… Was told by Rudi, that quite a few from Keo have made a move over here. quite sad the demise of Keo.
20 @ Te Rangatira:
I am Rudi!
@ grootblousmile:
hehe….I worked that out after I posted. I have to get my bearings on who is who again. Cheers Rudi.
“If the Waratahs kick, which they don’t do much, Lwazi is
probably the guy that will capitalise most.”
if he is so awesome though. Why was he not fullback against the bulls?
MacroBull wrote:
By now you should know that every Shark player is awesome. He could only be awesome in one position at a time though, so last week he was awesome on the wing, this week he will be awesome at fullback.
@ nortierd:
“Sharks should win at home against any team”
Not too sure about it now
Sharks Losing their Boks’ rated hlfback Combo is bad enough,
And I noticed that the Sharks two home victories were
played under confirmed cheats in Peiper and Lourenz v. d. Merwe, these victories brought some serious controversy and a referee suspension?
while tomorrow the Sharks will have Pollock 😉
Small differences?
Swiel was dropped altogether from the match 23, Zelinga is in at FH, SP was dropped to the bench, not sure why?
I wonder if John Smith has a say in that selection?
@Hondo
See my post 11
I’ve also taken the natural ref into consideration when picking the Tah’s.
I don’t think Peyper helped them to get the win, he helped them in getting the bonus point.
It would seem Lourens has paid the price for the Reds game.
We have heard and seen how good their depth is and also how thorough they are with recruitment, so I’m guessing injuries shouldn’t bother them too much 🙂
I’ve always had them down to lose against the Waratahs, but after their start, I have some doubts that they will.
Hondo wrote:
Still believe that the team sheet is there for an eye blind and that Fransie will start at 10 and maybe SP will start at 15 as well.
They do love their mind games down in Durban
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