Unacceptable! That was the word Sharks coach John Plumtree used to describe the fact that the Sharks have never beaten the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship.
The Stormers are on a 6-0 roll in the competition and Plumtree, says enough is enough.
“It is unacceptable that we have never beaten the Stormers,” Plumtree said of today’s big match at the Shark Tank, 5pm.
“This weekend is huge for us, We've spoken as a squad about making Hollywoodbets Kings Park a special place where it's tough for teams to come and try to win. We have not quite nailed that down in recent seasons but today is a good opportunity to begin building our home ground into the fortress it must be.
“The whole squad has bought into that, we're all on the same page and we must keep the momentum that we had before the break for the Springboks’ end-of-year tour.
Plumtree has picked the strongest possible team and the only Springboks not involved are incapacitated. They include Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi.
Worryingly, Plumtree said that Etzebeth, a World Player of the Year nominee, is “a bit dented.”
“Our medical team did their best to get him ready for this game but the bottom line is that he has carried a heavy workload this year and he has a variety of niggles. There are dents all over the place and the best thing for him and the Sharks is that he gets time off.
“We have a big season ahead of us and Eben needs to freshen up. I’m a bit worried about him and there is no way I would push him to play in this game.”
Mbonambi has not rejoined the Sharks camp after the Bok tour. He went home to Cape Town because of a family bereavement. He will be in camp next week before the Sharks Champions Cup fixture against the Exeter Chiefs.
“Whenever the Boks get back to us after a tour, I appraise them on an individual basis,” Plumtree said. “We need to see what physical shape they are in and then there are personal issues that some might have.
“You work through the Bok group and see who is good to go and who needs time off.”
In other cases, Plumtree chooses to promote a non-Springbok. This evening Siya Masuku who did not tour with the Boks, starts ahead of Jordan Hendrikse, who started with his brother Jaden against Wales last week.
Plumtree explained: “While the Boks were away, we worked very closely with Siya and we feel he is running the show really well in training and is back to his best form. He was a little off the pace and lost his position to Jordan but we feel that Siya deserves the opportunity against the Stormers.
“It is also about keeping going the competition for the flyhalf jersey, so lets’ see what Siya produces.”
Bok skipper Siya Kolisi captains the Sharks from No.8 and it is a team featuring 14 international players.
The other Boks are Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Jason Jenkins, Jaden Hendrikse, Makazole Mapimpi, Andre Esterhuizen, Lukhanyo Am, Aphelele Fassi, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Trevor Nyakane, Phepsi Buthelezi, Grant Williams and Jordan Hendrikse.
Plumtree concluded: “Any local derby is tough, it's always a bit personal and while we don't have a good track record against them in the URC, we want to change that.
“It's going to be a big weekend for us, we know it's going to be tough, we know what they bring, but we're looking forward to the game.”
Sharks – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Emmanuel Tshituka, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Jordan Hendrikse.