Director of rugby Neil Powell has chosen a Springbok-heavy Sharks 23 to lock horns with Scarlets at the Parc Y Scarlets in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Saturday.
After an enforced break due to this year’s Rugby World Cup, the Boks have been unleashed on the URC once more as the seventh-placed Sharks look to maintain a hold on a place in the knockout rounds when they clash with the Welsh in Llanelli.
Siya Kolisi leads the team out and his all-Bok front row of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Thomas du Toit will be called upon to deliver results up front, while Bok enforcer Eben Etzebeth adds grunt to a pack that will back down for nothing.
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A mobile back row will provide impetus on attack while Bok half-backs Jaden Hendrikse and Curwin Bosch will be called on to direct traffic, the powerful duo of Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Lukhanyo Am will link up in midfield, as speedster Makazole Mapimpi is in line to deliver the flair on the outside.
Also, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Grant Williams are set to make an impact as part of a formidable replacements bench.
Scarlets have not quite enjoyed the success this season they would have hoped for and languish near the bottom of the log, in 14th position. Last year’s fixture, at Kings Park, ended in a 37-20 victory for the Sharks, a bonus-point win with many of the same players who will do duty in this season’s clash, almost exactly a year later.
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Sharks – 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Ben Tapuai, 23 Thaakir Abrahams.
?TEAM RELEASE?
Your starting XV led by @SiyaKolisi tomorrow evening ?
?: https://t.co/CyMJQBHmbF #FearTheFin Vodacom #URC #SCAvSHA pic.twitter.com/WknuneR4gJ
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) March 24, 2023
Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images