CURRIE CUP

News | History | Table | Fixtures & Results

Kockott`s welcome return delayed

Wednesday 16th July 2008

Unlucky break: Rory Kockott

To compound the Sharks' injury woes that just don't seem to want to abate, scrum-half Rory Kockott has been ruled out of Saturday's crunch match against the Free State Cheetahs after it was learned that his injury was worse than initially thought.

"Rory has a break," confirmed Head Coach John Plumtree on the Sharks website.

"The first scan missed it, but there is a crack in the fibia and he will be out for another three weeks."

Bradley Barritt is another key player who will not make the trip to Bloemfontein on Saturday although there was some good news with Deon Carstens to be assessed later in the week and the welcome sight of both Steven Sykes and Jean Deysel participating in the Tuesday morning training session.

Both are due some game time and could possibly be included in the matchday 22.

Otherwise the coach had mixed feelings going into the Currie Cup match against the defending champions.

"Preparations are going well, we're putting in some hard work at the moment and we have guys coming back, some running on the side, some can't run at all, so it's not easy," said Plumtree.

"With the high number of injuries, we just have to work hard at getting the guys back and the team selection will have a lot of brackets until we can confirm later in the week who can play."

With the Cheetahs having lost to the Blue Bulls and Western Province, they are certainly going to need to pick things up and know that at home they cannot drop vital points.

"In this competition, you have to win your home games and pick up a few away victories if you want a home semi," explained Plumtree.

"Winning home games is crucial and Free State will want to make sure they pick up the points at home."

However, the Sharks have some unfinished business to take care of against the Cheetahs, their last win in the Currie Cup was in 2003 - in Bloemfontein - and the team is going into this match with a real sense of purpose.

"Every time we prepare, we prepare to win and we believe we can win," said Plumtree

"We have a basic structure in terms of the game plan and if we perform, we know we can score tries.

"But it's about the guys making the right decisions at the time and we have seen in the last couple of games some opportunities lost.

"Against teams like the Cheetahs and Bulls, if you don't nail your opportunities, you might not get them again, so the group we have need to learn quickly."