Sharks rely on rookie
18 Mar 2010
Super Rugby debutant Patrick Lambie will start at fullback as one of five changes to the Sharks side to face the Highlanders in Dunedin.
The 19-year-old Lambie played in the Sharks’ pre-season match against the Stormers, but his aptitude for Super Rugby will be tested at the House of Pain.
In other changes, Stefan Terblanche shifts to the wing to replace the injured Odwa Ndungane, Jean Deysel and Willem Alberts rotate at blindside flank, while Keegan Daniel starts at openside in place of Jacques Botes.
John Smit will play from the wood and is replaced by Bismarck du Plessis at hooker. Johann Muller will captain the side.
Coach John Plumtree intimated that they needed to be more disciplined. ‘When you are one or two points up with 10 minutes to go, you don’t want to be conceding penalties,’ he said. ‘The game is all about pressure and composure. At the end of the day, we need to show enough composure to win the game.
‘We’re pretty happy with our defence, we were in the Brumbies game pretty much all the way. We’ve lost four games by less than four or five points so it’s been very frustrating that we can’t win these close games.
‘We know that if we can hold onto that ball and build periods of attack and defend well, we can win. Our discipline has to be right, all the different factors that are letting us down need to be accurate on the day.’
Plumtree added that travel fatigue wouldn’t be an issue for the Highlanders (they’ve just returned from their South African tour). The Sharks, who’ve lost five successive matches, haven’t gone down in Dunedin in their last three matches there.
Sharks - 15. Patrick Lambie, 14. Stefan Terblanche, 13. Adrian Jacobs, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11. JP Pietersen, 10. Andy Goode, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Jean Deysel, 6. Keegan Daniel, 5. Johann Muller (c), 4. Steven Sykes, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Craig Burden, 17 John Smit, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Waylon Murray.
49 Comments
18 Mar 2010, 11:06 am
Good luck to him.
18 Mar 2010, 11:07 am
Blame dragons
18 Mar 2010, 11:09 am
Lambie at 15
A geriatric at 14
Daniel over Botes
Muller over Hargreaves
“Hands of Butter” over the worlds best captain
The worlds best captain on the bench
Cloud Cukooland…
18 Mar 2010, 11:10 am
Not a good sign for SA rugby when the Bok captain gets benched
18 Mar 2010, 11:19 am
Good call by Plumtree.
Lambie is the future at 15. Oom Stef is on his way to the retirement home but will provide good support to the youngster at 14.
John Smit has started everygame, time for rest and fitness work to get him back into being the best no.2 in the country.
Give me Daniels anytime over Botes. Hargreaves unlucky not to get a run as is Mvovo.
Would like to have seen Herbst on the bench. Give John the weekend off.
18 Mar 2010, 11:23 am
@Oubaas2009: Botes not in the same form as two seasons ago…dunno about Lambie.the kid’s got talent but seemed a bit ‘lig in die broek’ in the Stormers warm up game…a lamb to the slaughter
18 Mar 2010, 11:24 am
@Storm outta hell: …maybe a bit strong…’a Lamb caught in the headlights..?’
18 Mar 2010, 11:28 am
@Storm outta hell: 6. Seen him play quite often. Gave me the same feeling as seeing a young Frans Steyn. Lots of confidence and good head on him. Awesome goal kicker too.
In that warm up game, I must agree, he did look a bit wide eyed but to be expected on senior debut. Lets hope he has some good early touches against the Landers.
Seriously guys of all the young Sharkies around at the moment, this guy is the one to watch.
18 Mar 2010, 11:30 am
Ryan you spelt Ndungane wrong.
18 Mar 2010, 11:31 am
whiteheads a rookie ?propagande!
18 Mar 2010, 11:35 am
The Sharks season is lost, give the youngsters some gametime. How can you get experience if you never play. Stefan at 14 to support him. He can’t possibly be lighter than Joe Peterson’s 75kg. Go Lambie I hope you have a cracker.
18 Mar 2010, 11:35 am
@Oubaas2009: He must be doing something right to get selected ahead of Stefan…look forward to the Sharkies winning this one
18 Mar 2010, 11:40 am
interesting looking team
18 Mar 2010, 11:41 am
i must admit i think it is time for jannie to make his move, nothing good has come since his arrival.
and we do have the exciting youngsters at the sharks, we are just not using them…
herbst and cilliers with beast will be some of the most exciting props you will see in ages.
even carstens looked 3 times sharper than jannie..
and if you are going to bench smittie, bench him as the hooker, although i would prefer to srat hime at 2…
also with the new rules, the fetcher has lost a bit of its function, 2nd at the tackle is more important, i would play kanko with alberts and deysel
my team for this week would have been
15 lammetjie
14 stefan
13 jacobs
12 riaan
11 jpp
10 goode
9 pienaar
8 kanko
7 alberts
6 deysel
5 muller
4 sykes
3 cilliers
2 smit
1 beast
16 bismark
17 herbst
18 steenkamp
19 botes
20 kocky
21 murray
22 mvovo
18 Mar 2010, 11:42 am
@pokkel: They list Lambie at 92kg, 177cm on the Sharks website. Who knows these days with those figures though.
18 Mar 2010, 11:49 am
@Oubaas2009: That is heavier than I thought.
18 Mar 2010, 11:54 am
I think travel fatigue will play a role as seen in other teams returning from SA, (Brumbies vs Lions and Warathas vs Sharks). The current season’s fixtures makes it more interesting as most teams play on return home rather than having a bye after getting off the plane
@Oubaas2009: What does it mean indeed! Have to take 2 kg off for shoulder pads and strappings!
18 Mar 2010, 12:39 pm
@Storm outta hell: 4. Smit rolled an ankle on Monday. He is doubtful for Saturday. Came through on twitter.
18 Mar 2010, 12:39 pm
Good to see the skipper getting a rest..
18 Mar 2010, 12:49 pm
sharkies are going to get munched…i predict an obscene score being scored against them…..eina
18 Mar 2010, 13:02 pm
Sharks will win on saturday , im sure. restore the pride and get away from a log position that is reserved for Lions and Force….
18 Mar 2010, 13:52 pm
@pokkel: @pokkel: hiyas guys hope ur doing good
i have one or 2 good articles on the sharks on R-T come visit sometime
and oubaas is right Lambie is 1.77 and 92 kg’s
18 Mar 2010, 14:10 pm
I predict the Sharks will surprise and bounce back. The Highlanders will be jetlagged and lack the X factor
18 Mar 2010, 14:44 pm
damnation!
I backed tha landers on superbru as i thought smit would be at 3…..resulting in turbo reverse and another sharks loss….
Now at least the scrum will be solid…
sharks by 10
18 Mar 2010, 15:40 pm
i cannot bear the prospect of having to watch jannie ‘the walking penalty’ du plessis disgracing the sharks jersey yet again. i loathe him. he contributes nothing in the loose, gives away multiple penalties and free kicks virtually every game, and has the gayest whining voice i’ve ever heard from a big man. get rid of him john.
18 Mar 2010, 15:49 pm
Lambie is a major investment !!!I will tell you he has his Dad’s temprament ..i.e. he is not easily flustered…very good pressure arrestor …absolute “fire in the belly and ice on the brain “….mature beyond his years !! We loved his old man at 15,back there and knew if there was a final tackle to be made or high ball caught ,50-60m return punt needed…the correct option always seemed to taken . It made our go forward game so damn easy,consequently we were hardly ever in panic mode.Shark supporters need not fear this young man !!This young man has been around the big game nearly all his life.( Major B.M.T. here ).
18 Mar 2010, 15:55 pm
@durbs2atl: amen mate , i have met both he and his father , goog people
and i have said since i met young patrick , this kids a superstar
18 Mar 2010, 15:57 pm
@durbs2atl: Another rugby god awakens from the Shocks. Thats the problem with the Shocks and Stormpies. Another Deysel on the way.
18 Mar 2010, 16:01 pm
@BlueBlood: yawn
18 Mar 2010, 16:01 pm
@BlueBlood: all you do is try insult day ion and day out
is ur mental capacity so low that its how you communicate??
find a shrink dude you need help
18 Mar 2010, 16:15 pm
this damn Goode investment is moving the Sharks backwards!!!
Do we not have the coaching expertise in place to develop our own F/H.?. If the management would think forward and had a plan of succession in place ,we need not be making all these foreign investments !! I see it as a lack of faith in our players that have caused this predicment.What flyhalf today looks at the situation and says “I have a chance here” when he sees foreign signings on a two years rotation .There is something toxic at the Sharks …our local talent plays overseas and then as one returns he is retired in two days !)!! ( hey maybe he’s the smart one ) .
I do have a question ….Does Meyer’s retirement from rugby stand good only in S.A. or is he eligible to ply his trade back in the foreign market ?
18 Mar 2010, 16:28 pm
@durbs2atl: meyer messed up and he knows it
as for the up and comming both flyhalves are injured
the main one being guy cronje
he and lambie starred together for MH
lambie more the FB but also played FH for a long time
according to reports kearsney and westville have great 10s this year
18 Mar 2010, 16:44 pm
Mother of god! Plum must be smoking some seriously strong tik, perhaps the strongest stuff known to man. With an unhappy Sharks camp I’m sure Stefan is thrilled to make way for a young back at 15 and make the move to wing. What exactly is Plum’s problem with Mvovo? He’s got more bloody pace than Stefan. Not even a place for Lwazi on the bench. Good god! And Captain Courageous makes way for Hands of Hondkak to lumber on to the field, fat backside wobbling, growling and snearing as he trots past Kockett, fists clenched ready for a punch-up at any minute. Highlanders are gonna drill us at home like never before. Can anyone else not see just how useless Plum really is?!
Landers 85 – Sharks 2.
18 Mar 2010, 16:45 pm
Patrick is really good! May just be what they need to pull a win out the hat
18 Mar 2010, 18:29 pm
Makes no difference
Sharks may win against the tired Highlanders but otherwise they are doomed, I said it 6 weeks ago
For Several good reasons that we already argued many times over, the end result remains though.
18 Mar 2010, 19:10 pm
if sharks scrum is good and they win well…..
where does this leave the cappie???
18 Mar 2010, 19:11 pm
@grant10: Seriously look at that front row – it will not be good.
19 Mar 2010, 04:08 am
team looks decent although perhaps a weakness in the centres
19 Mar 2010, 05:14 am
Go Lambie , anything but the status quo. Please we need a shake up and not the kind were our best players leave.
19 Mar 2010, 08:18 am
@Storm outta hell:
How do you figure that out?
Smit is the only player in the Sharks front row to have started in every game. He had a hectic season last year and this is just resting him.
Makes perfectg sense.
I can see the posts on Monday if the Sharks win. See its because Smit was benched!
Get real
19 Mar 2010, 08:20 am
@grant10:
It doesn’t change anything. Why should it?
The Landers are probably the weakest side we have played so far and Smit has started every game up to now (the only front row fed to do so)
19 Mar 2010, 08:21 am
Lambie is a man for the future. He has to start somewhere and since we are in trouble this is as good a place as any
19 Mar 2010, 08:23 am
f&ck knows what grant10 will do if JS retires … this guy sits here 24/7 and ever y single JS story he goes on and on …
19 Mar 2010, 10:20 am
Well nothing to lose so why not make changes and experiment. Start planning for the Currie Cup…the Cheetahs favourite competition..
I seriously think Kanko should be slotted in at wing..he’s dynamic there.
19 Mar 2010, 11:00 am
Have just received the following news item from Durban:
A seven-year old boy was at the centre of a courtroom drama yesterday at the Durban High court when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible..
The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her.
When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him.
After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.
After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to The Sharks whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.
19 Mar 2010, 11:04 am
@Mick Dundee:
Ah, so that old joke is making a comeback, is it? It probably has a “insert name of currently struggling team here” option in the last sentence…
19 Mar 2010, 11:23 am
@Biscuit: Don’t talk rubbish man Plum can see that Smit is the root of the trouble in the sharks team. He is doing the sense able thing by placing him on the bench. But like HIV/AIDS he is struggling to get rid of it.
19 Mar 2010, 19:16 pm
@Kondi:
Twaddle. So he only figured it out this week?
Because he played Smit every week till now.
The any-JS brigade are really boring.
They have been rattling on since 2006
19 Mar 2010, 22:52 pm
@Biscuit: Yep. I agree that Smit shouldn’t be 3 for Boks and Sharks but neither should Jannie Hands of Hondkak. Smit may have lost the good form he had but I hardly ever see Smit commit handling errors and what about his grubber for Matfield that see us home against the Aussies? Ja some okes with an agenda would rather see Hands of Hondkak dropping balls like a total amateur. I hope he’s more careful with the kids he’s helping deliver!
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