URC: Sharks aim to end tour on a high in Italy

By SABC Sport
9th November 2023

The Sharks will be looking to end their four-week United Rugby Championship European tour on a positive note when they take on Zebre Parma on Friday night.

It's been a difficult month for a young Sharks team, starting their campaign overseas and taking on two Irish powerhouses of rugby in the opening fortnight, before a trip to London to play Ospreys last week.

The average age of 23, underlines that this young side is still growing, and change does take time to adopt. A heavy injury toll that includes hooker Kerron van Vuuren, locks Gerbrandt Grobler, Reniel Hugo and Le Roux Roets, loose forward Vincent Tshituka, flyhalf Curwin Bosch and scrumhalf Francois Hougaard has also played a role. Given this injury toll and the missing Springboks, this tour experience and the learnings from it, will hold this young team in good stead moving forward.

Tomorrow evening, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will be looking to make it three from three against their Italian opponents. The inaugural season of URC action delivered a 38-6 win for the Sharks at Kings Park, while the last edition in the 2022/23 season brought about a much closer result, Zebre going down 37-42 at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, the venue for Friday's clash.

Head coach John Plumtree has been fortunate to be in a position to mostly retain the same starting line-up and looking to build continuity, making just two changes.

George Cronje starts at eighthman, swapping jerseys with last week's incumbent Sikhumbuzo Notshe, while Boeta Chamberlain has come into the starting line-up in place of Curwin Bosch.

It is all about ending the tour on a high and these young men will certainly be up for the challenge.

Sharks - 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 2 Dylan Richardson, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 4 Corne Rahl, 5 Emile van Heerden, 6 James Venter, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 8 George Cronje, 9 Cameron Wright, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 13 Francois Venter (c), 14 Werner Kok, 15 Aphelele Fassi

Replacements - 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Marnus Potgieter

Players not available for selection due to injury:

Bongi Mbonambi, Eduan Keyter, Le Roux Roets, Muller du Plessis, Nevaldo Fleurs, Francois Hougaard, Reniel Hugo, Vincent Koch, Vincent Tshituka, Curwin Bosch, Kerron van Vuuren.