Currie Cup play-offs enough motivation for Sharks
The Cell C Sharks can see a fourth Carling Currie Cup final appearance
in five seasons on the horizon, but a strong Griquas side stand in their way
this Saturday at Jonsson Kings Park.
The Sharks last lifted the coveted trophy after beating Western Province in 2018 and lost last seasons final against the Blue Bulls but will hope that a victory this weekend will give them another shot at the title.
They were outplayed by Province in their final match of the group phase last weekend and lost to Griquas the last time the sides met. Despite this, coach Sean Everitt knows that his side are fully ready for the semi-final.
“Everyone wants to be in a Currie Cup final and want to win it so I don’t think motivation is going to be an issue this weekend,” Everitt said. “Last week I thought we were a bit unlucky in certain areas of the game but this week the energy won’t be in question.”
The men from Kimberley have produced some strong performances throughout the season, however Everitt believes that his side should book their spot in the final if they play as well as he knows they can play.
“Griquas are a team that have been together for a long period of time, and they’ve built up some good cohesion selecting the same team week in and week out.
“They will be coming here as underdogs, but they know that they have a chance and I’m sure they’ll come and disrupt our style of play.
“The last time they came to Durban, they had a good outing against us and won that game 37-30, so we are going to have to prepare well but if we do stick to the plan and we play according to our potential, we should be in the final.”
There are just two changes to the Sharks side that lost to Western Province last week. Marius Louw comes in for Murray Koster at inside centre and Dylan Richardson returns to flank in place of James Venter.
Cell C Sharks v Griquas
1. Ntuthuko Mchunu, 2. Kerron van Vuuren, 3. Khutha Mchunu, 4. Le Roux Roets, 5. Gerbrandt Grobler, 6. Dylan Richardson, 7. Henco Venter, 8. Phepsi Buthelezi (c), 9. Sanele Nohamba, 10. Lionel Cronje, 11. Thaakir Abrahams, 12. Marius Louw, 13. Werner Kok, 14. Yaw Penxe, 15. Curwin Bosch
Replacements
16. Dan Jooste, 17. Khwezi Mona, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Reniel Hugo, 20. Thembelani Bholi, 21. Cameron Wright, 22. Jeremy Ward, 23. Anthony Volmink
