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Sharks Coach Sean Everitt has appointed his team for Friday Super Rugby Unlocked opener against him Lions in Durban.
Thirteen players who participated in last Saturday’s Springbok Showdown have been named to the Sharks’ game day squad.
Ox Nche, Dylan Richardson and Thomas du Toit will be the starting front row, while blocking Hyron Andrews along with forwards James Venter and Sikhumbuzo Notshe round out the inclusion of the starting forwards.
Five of the seven baseline players named for Friday’s game also played in last weekend’s game at Newlands.
The midfielder pairing of Sanele Nohamba and Curwin Bosch is joined by former Blitzbok star Werner Kok, captain Lukhanyo Am and fullback Manie Libbok.
Kok and Libbok will debut for the Sharks, while on the bench Dan Jooste, Mpilo Gumede and Thaakir Abrahams are also in line to make their first appearances for the Durbanites.
Playing from the bench, JJ van der Mescht and center Jeremy Ward will also be eager to prove themselves once they enter the park.
Sharks flank James Venter admits that the energy and excitement at camp are propelling the players to put on a great performance on Friday night.
“Our preseason has gone very well, we have trained hard and executed well. But we have learned our lessons from that Bulls game and now it’s about executing against the Lions,” he said in a press release.
“Camp is very excited. We knew going into the Bulls game it was a warm-up game and we took it easy, although we learned a lot and we will recover. This week has been about preparing for the Lions and we have trained hard, the atmosphere at camp is great and we are very excited to get caught up in Super Rugby Unlocked. “
Friday’s clash at Kings Park begins at 7pm.
Teams:
Sharks
15 Manie Libbok, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Marius Louw, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Sikumbuzo Notshe, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 JJ van der Mescht, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Thaakir Abrahams
Lions
15 EW Viljoen, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Elton Jantjies (captain), 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vince Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Willem Alberts , 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole
Substitutes: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Gianni Lombard, 24 Wandisile Simelane, 25 Ruan Dreyer
