Durban — The Sharks travel to Pretoria on Saturday afternoon for a return leg Currie Cup clash with the Blue that comes at an important juncture in the season.
Last week’s 24-6 success over Griquas at Hollywoodbets Kings Park made it consecutive victories for the Sharks and coach Joey Mongalo says he had conflicting emotions about a game where the performance wasn’t quite up to standard, but still produced a pleasing result.
“We hadn’t had back-to-back victories before this, so we’re very thankful for that,” Mongalo said.
“But the guys acknowledged that we didn’t play to our standards — and we set quite high standards for ourselves — I almost didn’t recognise us in the first half because it was loose and that’s not us. Obviously we want to rectify that this week against the Bulls.
Having lost narrowly to the Bulls in their first-round meeting, there will certainly be plenty of motivation for a Sharks side looking to continue their momentum.
The Sharks team shows four changes for this week’s outing. Dan Jooste gets a start at hooker, the only player movement amongst the pack, while Tiaan Fourie comes in for Bradley Davids at scrumhalf.
Murray Koster takes over from Joshua Jonas at outside centre and Marnus Potgieter’s call-up to the URC team opens the door for Phikolomzi Sobahle on the wing.
Sharks team to play Bulls: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Phikolonzi Sobahle, 13 Murray Koster, 12 Alwayno Visagie, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Tiaan Fourie, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Thembelani Bholi 6 Tinotenda Mavesere, 5 Ockie Barnard 4 Reniel Hugo (capt), 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Dan Jooste 1 Khwezi Mona.
Substitutes: Dameon Venter, Dian Bleuler, Wiehahn Herbst, Marco de Witt, Damon Royle, Mpilo Gumede, Zee Mkhabela, Fred Zeilinga.
IOL Sport