Sharks look to weather Storm

Sharks head, John Plumtree, has included nine Springboks in his starting team for Saturday’s highly anticipated first local derby of the new United Rugby Championship season against the Stormers in Durban.

Siya Kolisi will lead the Sharks from No 8, with Eben Etzebeth out of the match because of injury.  Among the other Boks who’ll be in action against the Stormers are Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Jaden Hendrikse and Lukhanyo Am. Five more Bok players will sit on the bench.

Siya Masuku will start at flyhalf, with Jordan Hendrikse on the bench. The latter player started last weekend’s Test against Wales in Cardiff in the Bok No 10 jersey.

The Sharks are currently in ninth place on the URC log, with two wins from their first five matches.

Lock Jason Jenkins, who’s played one Test match for the Boks but hasn’t featured at national level for some time, said the Sharks were intent on making their home ground a fortress in the remaining matches this season.

“This weekend is huge for us; we’ve spoken as a squad about making Kings Park a special place where it’s tough for teams to play and come and win. The whole squad has bought into that, we’re all on the same page and it’s important that we keep the momentum that we have. To have three games in a row against the champions is exciting, and winning this week will put us in the right place, on the front foot, with a game in hand.”

Sharks: Aphelele Fassi, Ethan Hooker, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Siya Masuku, Jaden Hendrikse, Siya Kolisi (capt), Vincent Tshituka, James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Jason Jenkins, Vincent Koch, Dylan Richardson, Ox Nche.

Bench: Ethan Bester, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Trevor Nyakane, Corne Rahl, Phepsi Buthelezi, Emmanuel Tshituka, Grant Williams, Jordan Hendrikse