Sharks weighed down by injuries
The Sharks have named a matchday 22 heavily influenced by injuries to key players for their vital Super 14 clash with the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.
The Sharks have named a matchday 22 heavily influenced by injuries to key players for their vital Super 14 clash with the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.
The loss of Fr̩d̩ric Michalak will see Ruan Pienaar play at fly-half while Craig Burden has received his first call-up to the starting XV Рat hooker Рas he replaces the injured Bismarck du Plessis. Du Plessis has a bruised sternum and his absence is a huge loss for the Sharks.
Burden, however, is looking more and more the finished product having only moved from the backs to the front row a year ago. Dick Muir has been full of praise for Burden's strong work ethic and talent which offsets to some degree the loss of the more experienced Du Plessis.
The Durban based side have been heavily hit by injuries in the last few weeks – Johann Muller, Steven Sykes and Michalak have all sustained injuries, and now Du Plessis will join centre Brad Barritt, who has been ruled out with a shoulder injury sustained in the Waratahs' match, on the sidelines.
Captain Johann Muller is still not assured of leading the Sharks and is penciled in alongside AJ Venter at lock. If he comes through a late fitness test, Venter will play at flank. Otherwise Venter will start at lock and Jean Deysel will step in at flank.
Barritt's exclusion means that Francois Steyn and Waylon Murray will play in the midfield, the back three remain unchanged from last week. Rory Kockott will continue at scrum-half.
In another rotational change, BJ Botha comes back into the front row for Jannie du Plessis while AJ Venter comes into the back row to bulk up the scrum which will be tested by the Crusaders who also pride themselves on their strong pack.
With the loss of Michalak for the season and Barritt for this match, Andries Strauss has been flown over from Durban. He will play off the bench. Alistair Hargreaves has also come over and will come into the reckoning should the need arise.
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 AJ Venter / Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (c) / AJ Venter, 4 Albert van den Burg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Jean Deysel /Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Andries Strauss, 21 Henno Mentz, 22 Adrian Jacobs.
Date: Friday, May 2
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19:35 (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges: Brett Bowden (Australia), Josh Noonan (New Zealand)
Television match official: Kane McBride (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Kim Eichmann (New Zealand)