The Eastern Province Kings will look to upset the odds when they host the Sharks XV in a Currie Cup qualifier at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday, with St. Andrew's College old boy Sintu Manjezi once again captaining the side.
The Eastern Province Kings will look to upset the odds when they host the Sharks XV in a Currie Cup qualifier at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday, with St. Andrew's College old boy Sintu Manjezi once again captaining the side.
Sharks XV coach Michael Horak has named a side filled with seasoned campaigners featuring Super Rugby and Springbok capped players for this encounter.
Heimar Williams, who has played most of his rugby at centre, has been asked to do a job at flyhalf for the side from KwaZulu Natal.
Another shock selection was that of Wandile Mjekevu. After the flying winger scored a try on his loan debut for the Southern Kings in their home Super Rugby victory against the Jaguares last week, his return to the “windy city” in a Sharks XV jersey is particularly surprising, as he was initially loaned to the Southern Kings for the rest of the Super Rugby season.
The visitors will also have the luxury of former Springbok in Chiliboy Ralepelle running on in their number two jersey.
By contrast, the home team remains youthful. Coach Robbie Kempson has once again rotated his squad, making three changes to his run on fifteen for this game.
Lusanda Badiyana; and Sphu Msutwana; and Old Kingswoodian JP Jamieson, have been replaced by Martin Bezuidenhout; Jacques Engelbrecht; and Riaan Esterhuizen respectively.
Although they will look to more experienced heads in Tazz Fuzani; Cornell Hess; and Engelbrecht for guidance, it is former St Andrew's and Kingswood College pupils Sintu Manjezi and Somila Jho who have been entrusted with the captain and vice-captain roles respectively.
They will lead a team that also includes another old Kingswoodian in fly-half Garrick Mattheus.
Skipper Manjezi is unfazed by the challenge ahead. “[I'm] feeling good about the game” he said. “We’ve been the less experienced side against most of our opponents so it’s nothing new (to the team).”
Quizzed on whether the magnitude of the game has lead them to prepare any differently, the flanker revealed that they have shown faith in their normal routine, stating: “We haven’t done anything different. We want to stick to our game plan and executed it well, while also sticking to the basics."
The game is set to kick-off at 19:00 and you can tune in to Supersport 1 to catch it live.
Team Sheets
EP Kings
- Liam Hendricks
- Martin Bezuidenhout
- Louis Albertse
- Tazz Fuzani
- Cornell Hess
- JP Jonck
- Sintu Manjezi ©
- Jacques Engelbrecht
- Franswa Ueckermann
- Garrick Mattheus
- Lindelwe Zungu
- Riaan Esterhuizen
- Somila Jho
- Athi Mayinge
- Michael Brink
Reserves
16. Warrick Venter
17. Vukile Sofisa
18. Stephan Zaayman
19. Lusanda Badiyana
20. Rouche Nel
21. Sphu Msutwana
22. Ivan-John du Preez
Sharks XV
- Juan Schoeman
- Chilliboy Ralepelle
- Gerhardus Engelbrecht
- Ruan Botha
- Hyron Andrews
- Khaya Majola
- Christiaan de Bruin
- Tera Mtembu
- Hanco Venter
- Heirmar Williams
- Marcell Coetzee
- Nkululeko Marwana
- S’bura Sithole
- Wandile Mjekevu
- Alrin Eksteen
Reserves
16. Stephan Coetzee
17. Mzamo Majola
18. Ruan Kramer
19. Wian Vosloo
20. Francois Kleinhans
21. Dylan Marcus
22. Kelvin Elder
