Cell C Sharks vs. Xerox Golden Lions

Sep 20 • Currie Cup, General News • 1632 Views • Comments Off on Cell C Sharks vs. Xerox Golden Lions

Date	Saturday 22 September 2018
Time	17h15
Venue	JONSSON KINGS PARK, Durban
Referee	Egon Seconds
Assistant Referees	Archie Sehlako, Blake Beattie
Television Match Official	Shaun Veldsman

The Cell C Sharks side will be bolstered this weekend by the inclusion of two Springbok front rankers for our Currie Cup clash with the Xerox Golden Lions at JONSSON KINGS PARK this Saturday.

The return to action of Thomas du Toit and Coenie Oosthuizen (the latter off the bench) should play some part in calming an exciting and excitable young side and their inclusion couldn’t come at a better side as the Cell C Sharks look to finish off the pool stages of the competition in winning style.

“Patience and accuracy on attack – that’s a big thing for us and a lack thereof has been something we’ve discussed a lot,” explains flyhalf Robert du Preez of his team’s intent.

“We are a young group and we really want to play which isn’t a bad thing at all, but we’ve been rushing things and our execution has suffered as a result and that’s not good. Impatience has been our downfall and it’s meant that we’ve ended up conceding a lot of turnovers.

“It’s the one thing holding us back from clicking but I do believe that once we do click as a team then we’re going to be dangerous, considering all the talent we have. So, despite not clicking, we have maximum points [15 from three matches with bonus point wins against Free State, the Bulls and the Pumas] so as far as the log goes, we couldn’t ask for more.

“But we do need to click sooner rather than later.”

The Cell C Sharks have three games left – this week’s match against the Lions, followed by Western Province then Griquas – before the knock-out rounds. “It’s about peaking at the right time,” said du Preez.

“You want to be playing your best rugby at the business end of the competition, not in the first few weeks. We are a young team and want to play an exciting brand of rugby, but that comes with consequences. If we can show more patience, we’ll be fine.”

Casting his mind to his opponents on Saturday, he adds that, “The Lions will come hard at us after a heavy [65-38] defeat to Western Province last weekend, although we know they would come hard regardless of the result; you know what you get with the Lions.”

The match, kicking off at 5.15pm on Saturday, sees just two changes to the team that defeated the Pumas in our last match. In the front row, Thomas du Toit comes in for John-Hubert Meyer at tighthead prop while Curwin Bosch returns to the fullback position, rotating once more with Aphelele Fassi who made his run-on debut against the Pumas.
Coenie Oosthuizen makes his much-awaited return in the number 17 jersey after a long-term injury while Ruben van Heerden, the newly-signed 20-year-old Vodacom Bulls and SA Under 20 lock who has joined the Cell C Sharks on a three-year contract will look to earn his debut off the bench.

15.Curwin Bosch

14. Kobus van Wyk
13. Jeremy Ward
12. Marius Louw
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Robert du Preez
9. Louis Schreuder
8. Daniel du Preez
7. Tyler Paul
6. Luke Stringer
5. Hyron Andrews
4. Gideon Koegelenberg
3. Thomas du Toit
2. Chiliboy Ralepelle (c)
1. Juan Schoeman

Replacements
16. Akker van der Merwe
17. Coenie Oosthuizen
18. Ruben van Heerden
19. Jacques Vermeulen
20. Cameron Wright
21. Sbu Nkosi
22. Aphelele Fassi