Cape Town - He may have kept his top Springboks in Durban, but Sharks boss Neil Powell still believes that he has selected a “strong team” that can knock over Connacht in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash in Galway (7.15pm SA time kick-off).
Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Lukhanyo Am and a number of other regular first-choice players have remained at home to prepare for next weekend’s Champions Cup clash against Bordeaux at Kings Park, which is followed by a visit to Harlequins in London.
Powell is also in Durban, with Currie Cup coach Joey Mongalo taking charge for the Connacht game.
“It’s important for us to manage our squad well, and part of our rotational policy … if you look at our travel schedule over the next few weeks – playing Bulls at home and then Connacht away, then Bordeaux back here in Durban and Harlequins away – I can’t imagine one team having to travel and play all those games,” Powell said on Friday.
“We’ve done everything we can to prepare this team. We asked the guys who stayed behind to come in on Monday and run Connacht’s plays, so we’ve really worked hard to prepare this team to be successful.”
One of the youngsters who can make a name for himself tonight is flyhalf Nevaldo Fleurs.
The 23-year-old from Cradock starred for Maties in the Varsity Cup last year. The left-footed pivot was then signed by the Sharks, and has impressed Powell.
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“Every time he gets onto the training pitch, he really puts up his hand, and we already rewarded him when he was on the bench against Leinster,” the Sharks director of rugby said.
“He has shown a great amount of potential. I think he is a quality youngster, and he is one of those players who have time on the ball. So, when he’s got ball-in-hand, he looks like he has more time than anyone else when he has ball-in-hand – and he makes good decisions.
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“We are really excited to see him go in that number 10 jersey as well against quality opposition like Connacht. He is really capable of playing at this level.
“Connacht is one of those teams where you will have to battle it out for the full 80 minutes. In a lot of their games, they came from behind and beat the opposition in the last quarter. For us, the big challenge will be to stay in the game for the full 80 minutes and don’t tap out before the final whistle.”
Sharks Team: 15 Anthony Volmink 14 Yaw Penxe 13 Murray Koster 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg 11 Marnus Potgieter 10 Nevaldo Fleurs 9 Cameron Wright 8 Celimpilo Gumede 7 Henco Venter 6 James Venter 5 Reniel Hugo (captain) 4 Thembelani Bholi 3 Carlü Sadie 2 Fez Mbatha 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Bench: 16 Kerron van Vuuren 17 Dian Bleuler 18 Khutha Mchunu 19 Ockie Barnard 20 Corne Rahl 21 Grant Williams 22 Lionel Cronje 23 Ethan Hooker.
IOL Sport