Cell C Sharks vs Crusaders

Jul 19 • General News, Super Rugby, Super Rugby News • 1645 Views • Comments Off on Cell C Sharks vs Crusaders

Date	Saturday, 21 July 2018
Time	19h35 (NZDT) 09h35 (CAT)
Venue	AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Referee	Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Assistant Referee	Ben O’Keeffe, Brendon Pickerill
Television Match Official	Shane McDermott

In rare good fortune, Cell C Sharks Head Coach Robert du Preez has been able to name a completely unchanged match 23 for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby quarter-final clash with the Crusaders.

A good effort against the Jaguares at JONSSON KINGS PARK last weekend saw the Cell C Sharks through to the knock-out stage and a date against the top of the table Crusaders.

Assistant coach Dick Muir, speaking from the team’s base in Christchurch ahead of Saturday morning’s match explained that, “There’s a lot of excitement, the team had a long haul getting to Christchurch, but everyone is in good spirits. We’re coming off a good win and the team is ready to have a go.”

As we’ve seen this year, particularly against the New Zealand sides as well as last week when backs were against the wall, the big games have brought out the best in the Cell C Sharks this season and Muir expects nothing different on Saturday against the Crusaders.

“Absolutely, they have the players, but our expectations are pretty high as we get to the business end of the competition. Not too many people are giving us a chance so it’s a great opportunity to prove them wrong.”

Not that this is the motivation, but certainly a Cell C Sharks win would be an upset, given the fact that the favourites’ tag is firmly on the shoulders of the Crusaders.

“The Crusaders have made their presence felt in the competition,” Muir said of their opponents.

The Crusaders won 14 of the 16 games in the regular season and finished the pool stages of the tournament with 12 log points more than the nearest rivals, the Hurricanes.

“They’ve played a brand of rugby that has brought them a lot of success and we’re respectful of that.”

Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira will play his 150th Vodacom Super game in a Cell C Sharks jersey. He holds the record for being the most capped Vodacom Super Rugby player for a single province and is just behind Adriaan Strauss, who holds the overall record as the most capped South African Super Rugby player with 156 caps.

Cell C Sharks
15. Curwin Bosch
14. Kobus van Wyk
13. Lukhanyo Am
12. Andre Esterhuizen
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Robert du Preez
9. Louis Schreuder
8. Daniel du Preez
7. Jacques Vermeulen
6. Philip van der Walt
5. Ruan Botha (c)
4. Tyler Paul
3. Thomas du Toit
2. Akker van der Merwe
1. Tendai Mtawarira*

Replacements
16. Chiliboy Ralepelle
17. Juan Schoeman
18. John-Hubert Meyer
19. Hyron Andrews
20. Wian Vosloo
21. Cameron Wright
22. Marius Louw
23. Makazole Mapimpi

*Denotes that the player is playing his 150th Vodacom Super Rugby game for the Cell C Sharks.