Steve Haag Gallo Images
Sharks locks Jandre Marais, above, and Anton Bresler have another chance to state their case tomorrow morning, against the Waratahs in Sydney. picture: Steve Haag
Here is a rugby trivia question you will do well to answer correctly. Which South African Super Rugby coach had a better record overseas than he did at home? The answer is Hugh Reece-Edwards, who in 2000 won just one match – against the Waratahs in Sydney – before being fired later in the campaign after a string of defeats in Durban. One win… and it was overseas.
One wonders if that statistic will cross Reece-Edwards’ mind when the team bus pulls into the Sydney Football Stadium (now known as the Allianz Stadium) tomorrow (kick-off 6.35am SA time). He is now touring with the Sharks as an assistant coach, and he knows better than most that his win there was the last time the Sharks beat the Waratahs on Aussie soil.
But can they turn the light blue tide? The heart says yes, the head says no – not when the home side is so desperate. As Willem Alberts put it – it would have been much better for the Sharks had the Waratahs put 50 points past the Force last week (instead of losing 21-20 in a major shock), and the week before closed out a game against the Highlanders that they lost 17-18, and in round one done the same against the Reds, who scored a match-winning try instead in injury time.
The Waratahs’ sole win was in round two, against the Rebels in Melbourne.
In short, there isn’t the slightest chance of complacency in the Waratahs’ camp given that a defeat by the Sharks will mean their worst start in Super Rugby since the competition’s birth in 1996. The under-fire Waratahs are 11th, while the Sharks have two from four and are seventh.
It measures up to be the game of the weekend – the desperate home team against a Sharks side that is tired of losing in Sydney and is anxious about starting well in the first tour game, and about building the momentum generated by the last fortnight’s home victories against the Currie Cup champions and Super Rugby champions, after close defeats to the Bulls and Stormers in the opening two rounds.
Interestingly, the Sharks’ coaching staff has opted for pretty much the side that finished the game so brilliantly against the Reds last week, although injury in some cases has forced their hand. Nevertheless, who at season’s start would have predicted a starting second row of Anton Bresler and Jandre Marais?
Ross Skeate is injured, and patched-up Steven Sykes is on the bench while Alistair Hargreaves is still recovering from a pre-season ankle injury.
But the bottom line is that this unheralded second row did the business in that frantic second half against the Reds, and deserves to start this week.
The Waratahs won’t know who the heck they are, nor do many Sharks supporters, but these guys have a chance to show that they are the future.
Otherwise the pack is much the same. Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis has recovered from a calf injury strain sustained during the match against the Reds and will start alongside brother Bismarck, but there is no such luck for Wiehahn Herbst.
He has been replaced on the bench by SA under-20 tighthead Nick Schonert, the 20-year-old product of Maritzburg College and the Sharks Academy. He is short on experience but big on potential, and impressed for the Sharks XV in their two Vodacom Cup matches to date this year. At 1.89m and 118kg, Schonert has the physical frame to make it at Super Rugby level.
The Waratahs management, meanwhile, have reacted to the pressure they are under by making some dramatic changes, including a new half-back pairing.
Captain Daniel Halangahu has been relegated to the bench, with Berrick Barnes his replacement at flyhalf, and prop Benn Robinson is the brand new captain. Partnering Barnes in the No 9 jersey is Brendan McKibbin.
l He made his mark at fullback in senior rugby, played flyhalf while at school and tomorrow against the Stormers Jaco Taute will get a chance to show off his skills at outside centre, writes Jacques van der Westhuyzen.
Taute, who turned 21 two days ago, is in many quarters being spoken about as a probable Springbok this year when England tour these shores.
Lions: James Kamana, Deon van Rensburg, Jaco Taute, Doppies la Grange, Andries Coetzee, Butch James, Tian Meyer, Warren Whiteley, Joshua Strauss (captain), Derick Minnie, Franco van der Merwe, Marius Coetzer, Patric Cilliers, Callie Visagie, Caylib Oosthuizen. Replacements: Martin Bezuidenhout, Jacobie Adriaanse, Stephan Greeff, Cobus Grobbelaar, Ross Cronje, Michael Killian, Ruan Combrinck
Stormers: Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (capt), Bryan Habana, Peter Grant, Dewaldt Duvenage, Nick Koster, Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi, Andries Bekker, Eben Etzebeth, Brok Harris, Tiaan Liebenberg, Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: Scarra Ntubeni, Frans Malherbe, De Kock Steenkamp, Nizaam Carr, Louis Schreuder, Gary van Aswegen, Gerhard van den Heever.
