Rugby
Tapuai ruled out for Stormers match─── 13:56 Thu, 03 Feb 2022
Although the Sharks team selected to travel to Cape Town for the United Rugby Championship clash with the Stormers on Saturday shows minimal changes, there is a new selection in the midfield that has been necessitated through injury to Ben Tapuai.
Following on from last week’s draw against the same opponents at Kings’ Park, head coach Sean Everitt has not tinkered too much with the team for the return leg.
The forward pack that dominated the Stormers at scrum time has been given an overwhelming thumbs up, while Everitt has swapped the jerseys of flyhalf and scrumhalf, with Jaden Hendrikse starting at nine and Argentine international Tito Bonilla at 10, with last week’s incumbents Grant Williams and Boeta Chamberlain playing off the bench.
With the injury to inside centre Ben Tapuai, captain Lukhanyo Am has shifted into his place with Jeremy Ward coming off the bench and into the starting line-up at outside centre.
This opens the door for Werner Kok to wear the number 23 jersey, with the final change seeing Reniel Hugo making way for Gerbrandt Grobler.
While there was a lot to enthuse about in the first leg clash with the Stormers last week, one concern was not closing out the victory when the Sharks held a decent lead.
This is not a structural issue but more about composure and bringing an element of ruthlessness to their game that Everitt will have outlined in the preparations to this match and exhorted his players to adopt this week.
With just two points separating the Sharks and Stormers on the URC table, every log point counts and this match presents the opportunity to put some daylight between them and the chasing South African sides.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 17:05.
Sharks - 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Tito Bonilla, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Jeandré Labuschagne, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nché.
Replacements - 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Kutha Mchunu, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Grant Wiliams, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Werner Kok.
