TRI-SERIES SELECTION AGAINST THE SHARKS

[RugbyWA]

Emirates Western Force coaching staff will unleash a new starting XV in the club?s second and final match of the Neo Africa Tri-series in Cape Town as the club?s established players get their chance to gain valuable match practice.

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Emirates Western Force – Trail Match Squad

Sharks v Emirates Western Force

Tuesday, 26 January 2010 at Newlands, Cape Town.

Mark Bartholomeusz

Richard Brown

Ryan Cross

Matt Dunning

Tim Fairbrother

Sam Harris

Dane Haylett-Petty

Nic Henderson

Tom Hockings

Matthew Hodgson

Mitch Inman

Kieran Longbottom

Ben McCalman

James O'Connor

Chris O'Young

Andre Pretorius

David Pocock

Joelin Rapana

Nathan Sharpe

Brett Sheehan

Cameron Shepherd

Richard Stanford

Mark Swanepoel

Joshua Tatupu

Ryan Tyrrell

Ben Whittaker

Sam Wykes

[travelling_gerry]

Sharks name side for Force clash
25.01.10 16:10:00 by robdylan | Original Content, Sharks, Super 14 | 42 Comments
Tags: Craig Burden, Keegan Daniel, Manie Reynecke, Monty Dumond, Newlands, Rory Kockott, Willem Alberts



The Sharks have named their side to take on the Western Force in a pre-season friendly at Newlands on Tuesday night. Willem Alberts has been included as part of a 13-man bench, so it’s anybody’s guess as to whether he’ll actually get onto the field.
Talk from Joburg is that Manie Reynecke will file an official complaint on behalf of the Lions as soon as Alberts plays for the Sharks.

The team is an interesting one and it’s a little hard to work out whether it’s a B team or not. Certainly, a number of first choice players, including John Smit, Bismarck du Plessis and JP Pietersen have not been included, meaning this is not the strongest outfit the Sharks could have fielded.

Craig Burden gets a rare start at hooker, while Beast Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis will be on either side. Alistair Hargreaves comes into the second row in the number 4 jersey, where he’ll partner last year’s first-choice, Steven Sykes. Keegan Daniel is preferred at openside, while the 7-8 combination of Jean Deysel and Ryan Kankowski has a familiar look to it.

Rory Kockott, who is apparently no longer first in the scrumhalf pecking order, will start with Monty Dumond, while Riaan Swanepoel and Waylon Murray are the centres. Stefan Terblanche is at fullback, with a pair of young wingers in Lwazi Mvovo and Luzuko Vulndlu sure to be full of running.

Sharks team

15. Stefan Terblanche
14. Luzuko Vulindlu
13. Waylon Murray
12. Riaan Swanepoel
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Monty Dumond
9. Rory Kockott
8. Ryan Kankowski
7. Jean Deysel
6. Keegan Daniel
5. Steven Sykes
4. Alistair Hargreaves
3. Jannie du Plessis
2. Craig Burden
1. Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements:
16. Bismarck du Plessis
17. John Smit
18. Johann Muller
19. Jacques Botes
20. Charl McLeod
21. Andries Strauss
22. Odwa Ndungane
23. Patric Cilliers
24. Willem Alberts
25. Gerhard Mostert
26. Patrick Lambie
27. Adrian Jacobs
28. JP Pietersen

[GIGS20]

Bit of a mixed bag from the Sharks as far as I can see. As usual, trials are about different things for different teams, You'd need to look at the Force list to see whether the results of this one mean anything at all.

On a side note, there was a very interesting statement about Shep in the RWA release

Players expected to take the field from kick-off include skipper Nathan Sharpe, star winger Cameron Shepherd, and Wallabies James O’Connor, David Pocock and Ryan Cross.

STAR indicates they're really keen to keep him, it might well be the first statement in the negotiations. he's also Identified ahead of the Backrowers and Rabbit, that's significant.

WINGER......Looks like Rabbit is being considered the Fullback.

[travelling_gerry]

Pretorius debuts for the Force
Jan 25, 2010 10:05 PM | By Craig Ray

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Former Springbok flyhalf Andre Pretorius will make his debut for the Western Force against the Sharks at Newlands tonight.

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GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS: Carlos Spencer during a Golden Lions training session yesterday. He hopes his team can cause an upset against the Bulls tonight Picture: DUIF DU TOIT/GALLO IMAGES
The match is part of a pre-season Super14 tri-series that also features the Stormers. The home team beat the Australian side 54-12 at the weekend, but Force coach John Mitchell is going to play his best side against the Sharks.

And that means Pretorius, who was recruited to fill the void left by the departure of Matt Giteau, will start alongside Wallabies such as Nathan Sharpe and Matt Dunning.

Pretorius bristled when it was suggested that he had big boots to fill in Giteau's absence: "I'm not here to fill anybody's boots," Pretorius told The Times. "Matt and I are completely different players.

"He is a fantastic rugby player but I'm here to play my own role, not make up the numbers and try to be another Matt."

Pretorius has been in Western Australia since November and spent the pre-season overcoming the niggles and injuries that have plagued his career. For the first time he feels that he is 100% fit at the start of a Super14 campaign.

After their resounding loss, admittedly with mostly fringe players, they know that tonight's match against the Sharks will be a real test of their ability, with most first-choice players starting.

The Sharks have brought a strong 28-man squad to Cape Town, which includes No8 Willem Alberts, who is at the centre of a contractual row between the Sharks and the Lions.

If Alberts plays, the Sharks will be in contravention of the regulations because the Lions have not issued a clearance certificate allowing Alberts to be with the Sharks. The Sharks claim his contract with the Lions is invalid.

But, aside from that issue, the Sharks' performance will be interesting because they've spent the bulk of their pre-season working on fitness and sacrificing structure.

Captain John Smit admitted that they will be shy of rugby sharpness, but that their fitness levels are better than in previous years.

•The Lions quietly continue their preparations in Johannesburg. Former All Black Carlos Spencer has been training at full tilt after completing his move from Britain, and flank Cobus Grobbelaar has been retained as skipper for the season.

[Burgs]

From that Squad (above) I'd argue the following would be the strongest 80 minute 22 man combination.
Not sure if there is an extended bench again or not.
From the article you can read into the starting Scrumhalf being the first pick for Round 1.

1 Matt Dunning
2 Ben Whittaker
3 Tim Fairbrother
4 Tom Hockings
5 Nathan Sharpe
6 Ben McCalman
7 David Pocock
8 Richard Brown

9 Brett Sheehan
10 Andre Pretorius
11 Mitch Inman
12 James O'Connor
13 Ryan Cross
14 Mark Bartholomeusz
15 Cameron Shepherd

16 Ryan Tyrrell
17 Nic Henderson
18 Sam Wykes
19 Matthew Hodgson
20 Chris O'Young
21 Sam Harris
22 Dane Haylett-Petty

[James]

I like it Burgs. I don't know if Bartholomeusz will be fast enough on the wing but then again I'm more often wrong than not.

The Sharks team looks far less threatening than the Stormers side. The Sharks might be saving their big guns for the game against the Stormers.

Some big names on the bench. I hope we don't do what happened against the Crusaders last year where we start off with our top team and they start out with their worst and as the subs come on the balance of control tips completely.

[GIGS20]

I like it Burgs. I don't know if Bartholomeusz will be fast enough on the wing but then again I'm more often wrong than not.

we always said that about Spanner on the wing didn't we?

I'll wait and see how he goes, Speed's good in a winger, but there are more important things.

If he's got a good rugby head and dependable defence, an ability to be in the right spot at the right time and the strength to throw off a defender he'll be awesome without being fast!

[mudskipper]

this is the match Mitchell wanted... the lads will do better with a more experienced squad.

[James]

we always said that about Spanner on the wing didn't we?

I'll wait and see how he goes, Speed's good in a winger, but there are more important things.

If he's got a good rugby head and dependable defence, an ability to be in the right spot at the right time and the strength to throw off a defender he'll be awesome without being fast!

Spanner wasn't super fast no but he was very powerful and ran very straight. Spanner has about 15kgs on Mark Bartholomeusz. Until he's 100% I'd prefer to see Cam Shepherd on the wing and Bart at 15. The dependable defence reading the play and the good rugby head are just as useful from fullback. Plus that frees JO'C up for 12.

[Burgs]

It was a toss up between Barts experience and DHP's better speed.
I still see no reason to play arguably Australia's best Fullback option on a Wing, especially as he has often injected his pace from Fullback on overlaps etc.
I would see Bart as your Rogers type #21 with a back three cover as your #22.
So if fitness allowed:
11. Cummins
14. Inman
15. Shepherd
21. Bartholomeusz
22. Haylett-Petty/Sare