DURBAN - FORMER Stade Francais lock Gerbrant Grobler will make his debut for the Sharks in their Currie Cup match against the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday (2.10pm).
The 29-year-old Grobler played for the Bulls and the Stormers before heading for France and he returns to South Africa to add some much-needed beef to the Sharks’ tight five depth.
With the Currie Cup round-robin stage winding down, coach Sean Everitt has also picked his first-choice halfback combination — Lionel Cronje and Grant Williams — for the trip to Ellis Park for a match the Sharks must win to secure second place on the log, with the Bulls having an unassailable lead at the top.
The top two finishers on the log earn home semi-finals.
Regular captain Phepsi Buthelezi is back from a rotational rest to start at No 8, with Henco Venter moving from that position to No 7 flank.
“Going into the business end of the competition, we’re in a very good place and the guys are starting to get really excited. I also think we’re starting to peak just at the right time,” Buthelezi said.
Buthelezi is calling for a more disciplined performance from his team and doesn’t shy away from the hard fact that penalties have been costing his team.
“It’s definitely a massive issue for us and something we’re constantly working towards improving,” he admits. “We made it difficult for ourselves against Free State, we know over the last two games this discipline issue has been a massive one and it’s a constant work-on for us.”
The Lions currently find themselves in last place on the log and while they have a mathematical chance of slipping into the top four, playing their final match will realistically be more about pride than a top four finish.
“They will be desperate, they’re a quality team but have been unfortunate with results not going their way in recent weeks.
“The trend we’ve picked up in their play is that they’re kicking a lot less lately, so we’re expecting a high tempo game, lots of running rugby and plenty of tackles.
“We want to get there and execute our game plan, it’s something that’s worked for us and something we want to polish heading towards the play-offs.”
Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink 14 Yaw Penxe 13 Jeremy Ward 12 Marius Louw 11 Thaakier Abrahams 10 Lionel Cronje 9 Grant Williams 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (capt) 7 Henco Venter 6 Dylan Richardson 5 Emile van Heerden 4 Gerbrandt Grobler 3 Lourens Adriaanse 2 Dan Jooste 1 Khwezi Mona.
Substitutes: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, Thembelani Bholi, Jeandre Labuschagne, James Venter, Sanele Nohamba, Boeta Chamberlain, Murray Koster.
IOL Sport