Aphelele Fassi Fullback Aphelele Fassi is back from injury and will play his first Sharks match in three months against Edinburgh on Friday. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
The Sharks team to play Edinburgh on Friday night (8.35pm kick-off) looks like a million dollars, but they could go bust if the players don’t gel, warns coach John Plumtree.
The Big Kiwi has craved having this star-studded line-up for six months, but now that he has all the pieces of the jigsaw, he needs them to fit neatly into place.
Plumtree has 15 Springboks in his match-23, including the most-capped of them all in Eben Etzebeth, but everyone knows that matches are not won on paper.
“Yeah, it’s a little bit of a relief to have all the big guns back in the build-up to the playoffs,” Plumtree said on Thursday.
“However, as strong as we look, the challenge will be for us to get our game going.
“A lot of boys haven’t played for a little while, four or five of them, so that’s all we’ve been working really hard on in the last 10 days, probably close to two weeks.
“Hopefully, we’ll see them click into gear and get a little bit of rhythm going in our game.”
Plumtree has worked with this team in Durban over the last fortnight while a second-string side went to Lyon for the Challenge Cup.
But training together is one thing and playing a pressure match at the Hive Stadium is another.
Etzebeth has not played for four months, and Aphelele Fassi for three months, but Plumtree had no hesitation in giving Etzebeth the captaincy in his first game back.
“Eben was named as our captain at the start of the season,” Plumtree explained.
“I’ve got two really good leaders, Eben and Siya Kolisi, and they work well together.
“It’s too long a season to have one captain. Siya has done a great job, but it’ll be good for Siya to focus on his game at number eight and allow Eben to make the big calls.
“Eben has done a lot of training. He had a couple of setbacks along the way (like pulling a hamstring at the Springbok alignment camp).
“I know it has been pretty frustrating for him, so it’s good to have him back in there.”
Edinburgh, under former Sharks coach Sean Everitt, have billed this game as the third in their “Biltong War” – their last two games have also been at home to South African teams in the Lions and the Bulls.
The team from the Scottish capital are eighth on the URC log and have everything to play for in the race to the top eight.
They are also coming off good wins over the Lions and the Bulls in the Challenge Cup playoffs.
“Unfortunately, team sports don’t work on pedigree alone,” Plumtree said of his team’s chances of beating Edinburgh.
“Like I say, putting a name out on a paper is not where it’s won or lost – it’s out on the rugby field where there’s 15 versus 15, or 23 versus 23.
“It’ll come down to the team that wants it the most, the team that works hard for it the most.
“Yup, we’ve got some experience and got some talent, but that doesn’t give you the right to win any game of rugby.
“If you look at Edinburgh, they’ve got a lot of experience and talent within their team.
“Just because we’ve got some Springboks doesn’t mean we’re going to get the W... We have to work for it.”
The Sharks face a vital fortnight of games in the United Kingdom, and how they fare against Edinburgh and next week against Ulster will determine how high they finish on the log.
The Sharks finish with relatively easy games against Welsh teams in the Ospreys and the Scarlets.
“That’s what the horizon looks like, the immediate horizon, if you like. Or if you close that horizon down a little bit, it’s around just winning tomorrow, getting a result,” Plumtree said.
“Edinburgh have found themselves in a little bit of form at the right time of year, got some rhythm going in their game.
“They’re tough. They’re going to take ages to break down, if we do break them down. It’s a tough task over here.
“We’re playing on a 4G pitch, something we’re not used to.
“There are different elements to that as well. We trained on one yesterday, which is good. But, yeah, we’re looking forward to it.”
Sharks Team
15 Aphelele Fassi 14 Ethan Hooker 13 Lukhanyo Am 12 Andre Esterhuizen 11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Jordan Hendrikse 9 Jaden Hendrikse 8 Siya Kolisi 7 Vincent Tshituka 6 Phepsi Buthelezi 5 Emile van Heerden 4 Eben Etzebeth (captain) 3 Vincent Koch 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.
Bench: 16 Fez Mbatha 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu 18 Hanro Jacobs 19 Jason Jenkins 20 James Venter 21 Grant Williams 22 Siya Masuku 23 Jurenzo Julius.