Sharks
The Lions celebrated their return to Vodacom Super Rugby with a good win over the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein before the Cell C Sharks showed they mean business in 2014 with a bonus-point victory over the Vodacom Bulls in Durban.
For the Cell C Sharks, under a new coach in former Springbok mentor Jake White, it was a perfect start to the season. They got their 4th try at the death of their 31 / 16 win after scoring 3 five-pointers in the first 40 minutes.
The DHL Stormers still have to get into the action and will have other intentions, but the first two matches of Vodacom Super Rugby reinforced the pre-season view that the Cell C Sharks will be the team to beat in the South African conference.
Certainly the other three sides that played this weekend were light years behind the Sharks, and that confirms the view picked up in the last Absa Currie Cup season, when the understrength sides of the Sharks and Western Province dominated the league season before contesting the final: there really are only two strong unions in South Africa at the moment.
Legendary Australian wing David Campese wasn’t impressed by what the Bulls dished up in their Super Rugby opener against the Cell C Sharks in Durban over the weekend.
“Campo” studied the Super Rugby clash which the Sharks won 31 / 16 to go to the top of the Super Rugby standings.
Sharks (23) 31 / 16 (9) Bulls (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at
Kings Park, Durban at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sFMF09fgi8[/youtube]
The 2014 Super Rugby season kicks off this weekend with an all South African round of action featuring the Cheetahs vs the Lions and the Sharks vs the Bulls.
Here we take a brief look at the South African teams and what could lie ahead for the South African Super Rugby franchises.
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White has named his team to play the Bulls in Saturday’s opening Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Bulls at Growthpoint Kings Park.
Getting off to a good start is vital to the team’s tournament aims and there is no discounting the value of winning early to set up a platform for ongoing success. The team he has named includes 11 Springboks in the starting line-up with a further three on the bench as he has been able to name pretty much a full-strength side.
Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke will look at his next generation Vodacom Bulls players to deliver the goods in the Vodacom Super Rugby season after he named a youthful looking side to face the Cell C Sharks in the season’s opener in Durban on Saturday.
Regular captain Pierre Spies will lead a team on the field with a number of players on debut and a number of others with only a handful of caps, but will also have the luxury of Victor Matfield on the bench.
Matfield will join former Sharks AJ Venter and John Smit in becoming the most capped South African Vodacom Super Rugby players and will play in his 125th match at this level.
Former Sharks mentor Brendan Venter believes the Durbanites will have too much firepower for the Bulls in their Super Rugby opener in Durban on Saturday night (19:10 kick-off).
Cell C Sharks director of rugby, Jake White, has named a 39-man squad that will contest the 2014 Super Rugby tournament, which includes 17 Springboks.
White has insisted that having one of the best squads in Super Rugby means little if his team cannot transfer the weight of expectancy into results.
Our featured image just features the Cell C Sharks, and not the Lions, because at times it seemed like there was just ONE SIDE on the field!
The Lions were given a reality check when a full-strength Sharks team handed them a 57 / 14 drubbing in their pre-season friendly.
In what was their last run-out before their return to Super Rugby, a young and inexperienced Lions selection were outscored by 9 tries to 2 at Ellis Park on Friday.
There are two vastly different approaches from the teams going into Friday’s Super Rugby pre-season showdown between the Lions and Sharks in Johannesburg.
While Lions coach Johan Ackermann continued to experiment with his team, Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White have risked injury to his vast array of Springboks.
The Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has announced his team to take on the Sharks in a Super Rugby warm up game at Ellis Park on Friday evening.
Ackermann has opted to make wholesale changes to the side that narrowly beat the Kings last weekend.
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White has named a powerful line-up for Friday night’s pre-season warm-up match against the Lions at Ellis Park, in this, their final hit-out.
White pointed out after training on Tuesday that he would name potentially a similar side to the one that will play the Bulls in the Vodacom Super Rugby opener at Growthpoint KINGS PARK next Saturday. This will obviously give the team the best opportunity to gel as a unit in the match scenario.
The Cell C Sharks, through their very vocal Director of Rugby / Coach, Jake White, certainly bombards us with news on their endeavours!
It is reported that Tonderai Chavanga now trains with the Sharks squad, in an attempt to revive his Super Rugby aspirations.
In other news, Jake White describes Ryan Kankowski (Kanko) as a player with X-Factor.
Whilst the Cell C Sharks take on the Lions in a double-header of clashes at Ellis Park on Friday, the Sharks website have declared that the Cell C Sharks are ready for the season of Super Rugby.
Following the pre-season hit-out against Saracens on 25 January, the next challenge on the Cell C Sharks schedule is a double-header set of matches against the Lions at Ellis Park next Friday night.
Their preparations for Vodacom Super Rugby – aside from what they do on the training pitch and in the gym – involve just two warm-up games before the competition gets going. Their first match will be against the Bulls at Growthpoint KINGS PARK in two weeks’ time, and by the time the match kicks off, they would have had the two warm-ups to prepare.
Dr. Sherylle Calder, the world-renowned Visual Skills and Performance Specialist joins the Cell C Sharks as a consultant, on a two-year contract, effective immediately.
Jake White has, repeatedly in the past, taken teams from the doldrums to the top of their game.
He took the South African Under-21 from being no-hopers to winning a world title, the Springboks from ranked sixth in the world to No.1 and winning a World Cup, and more recently he took the Brumbies from finishing 13th out of 15 teams in 2011 to finalists last year.
Sharks coach Jake White has confirmed that he left London after his team’s friendly match against Saracens last weekend feeling that most of the questions that he was asking had been answered.
Although the team considered by most to be the likely South African flag-bearer in this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby competition lost 23-15 on an inclement northern hemisphere day, White said in his post trip wash-out that he had always told the players to be realistic about what they could expect against the inform English side so early in the new year.
Sharks wing Lwazi Mvovo says the injury he sustained against Saracens is not as serious as initially feared.
Saracens lock Mouritz Botha praised his side’s “brilliant performance” after his man of the match performance in the 23-15 win over the Sharks in atrocious conditions at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White says matches between South African provinces and English clubs could be the way forward.
Saracens (20) 23 / 15 (3) Sharks (Final Score)
Saracens and the South African Cell C Sharks did battle in a friendly match which doubles up as a warm-up
game in preparation of Super Rugby, at Allianz Stadium, London at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Natal Sharks director of rugby Jake White thinks his team’s game against Saracens could lead to regular club matches between English and South African sides.
In December 2013 and January 2014 we looked at Squad Contenders in the SA Super Rugby participating franchises. This tiime we will focus on the SA Conference Coaches for Super Rugby 2014.
We’ll have a look at all the head coaches and briefly their assistant staff, for the various South African Super Rugby franchises.
We look at their history and discuss their coaching styles and speculate about what can be expected.
Saracens have named their side to face the Cell C Sharks in Saturday’s Sanlam Private Investments Shield match at Allianz Park, London, with kick-off at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT).
Steve Borthwick will captain the side from lock, and is partnered by England second-rower Mouritz Botha.
The Cell C Sharks have named their team to take on Saracens in the friendly Sharks pre-season encounter at Allianz Park, London, England on Saturday 25 January at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT).
Quotes from Director of Rugby, Jake White
“What I enjoy about this game is that it mimics a little bit of what we can expect from the Bulls.
“Saracens play a little bit like the Bulls, they have a big pack of forwards, their set-piece is strong and they kick a lot. It gives me and the coaching staff an opportunity to see the things we want to do against the Bulls and to have an idea of whether or not we can play against the Bulls in a certain way.”
Springbok loose forward Marcell Coetzee has been withdrawn from the Sharks’ touring party for Saturday’s unique pre-season clash against Saracens in London due to injury.
New Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis will be counting on the support of his predecessor Keegan Daniel in the pre-season friendly against English club Saracens in London on Saturday.
The Springbok hooker, who was the natural choice by incoming director of rugby Jake White, said he had the full backing of the former skipper following the change of leadership last week.
A lot of rugby will be played this weekend, with the much awaited friendly between Saracens and the Cell C Sharks, the HSBC Sevens World Series tournament in Las Vegas and the LV Cup, amongst others, happening.
The Referees & Match Officials have been named.
One can feel that South African rugby supporters are chomping at the bit for their season to start and the good news is that the weekend’s pre-season friendly match between the Cell C Sharks and Saracens at Allianz Park in London on Saturday 25 January will be televised live on SuperSport 1, SHD and CSN.
New Sharks mentor Jake White may know what he wants to do with Pat Lambie and Frans Steyn, but question marks remain over a few other players.
White has made known that Lambie will be his first-choice flyhalf and Steyn will play No 12.
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby, Jake White, on Thursday announced that Springbok hooker, Bismarck du Plessis, will captain the Cell C Sharks in 2014.
Regarded as one of the best hookers in the world, Bismarck has been colossal figure for the Cell C Sharks over the years. With 103 Vodacom Super Rugby appearances to his name, he is a player who leads by example and is well respected by the team.
This is the 7th article in the series of Cell C Sharks Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the Cell C Sharks 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
The Cell C Sharks have named their squad to face Saracens on Saturday 25 January 2014, when they will play in a pre-season friendly at Allianz Park in London.
It will be the first time in a game situation that Jake White will be in charge of the Cell C Sharks and this game is one of 2 scheduled warm-up matches for the Sharks, in preparation of the 2014 Super Rugby season.
The squad is minus a few players, notably with Patrick Lambie, JP Pietersen, SP Marais and a couple of locks not going on tour.
Super Rugby teams will step up their preparations for the upcoming season and shake off some rust in pre-season friendlies in the coming weeks.
Preparing for the gruelling Super Rugby tournament, which gets underway on 15 February and culminates on 2 August, is not an exact science.