Thank you Sharky Lover

John Bishop

Durban – The Sharks received an important boost on Tuesday when their young tighthead Wiehahn Herbst was cleared of dangerous play at a disciplinary hearing in Cape Town.

It is not for the first time this season that a Sharks player has been cited following a Durban game and subsequently cleared – the U21 prop, who was yellow-carded after charging into a ruck during Saturday’s Currie Cup win over Griquas, was found not guilty.

The availability of Herbst will solve a problem for coach John Plumtree who has his two looseheads, Deon Carstens and Patric Cilliers, nursing minor ailments ahead of Saturday’s game against second-placed Western Province in Durban.

Centre Riaan Swanepoel, flyhalf Juan Hernandez and scrumhalf Rory Kockott are also fit for Saturday’s game and the log-leading Sharks, if you can ignore their 10 missing Springboks, should otherwise be close to full strength on Saturday.

WP, in contrast, have a problem in the second-row with Adriaan Fondse out for the season while flyhalf Peter Grant is also battling with injury.

Deon Kayser, the Sharks technical adviser, said on Tuesday that the Durban-based team had “grown during the season.”

“There is no complacency in the side, the vibe is good and the team has learned a lot from previous experiences.

“The biggest thing is the new young guys believe that they can play at this level. Western Province are obviously a quality side and they haven’t lost a lot of Springboks, as we have. But our guys will be up for it.”

The Sharks lost their opening Currie Cup game against Province in Cape and Kayser said the rainy weather had been a major factor that day.

“We’re hoping it will be dry on Saturday and that will suit us. We couldn’t have asked for a better campaign so far and the youngsters have done really well. But there is still plenty of work to be done and Province will be a real test.”

The match kicks off at 3.00pm and Jonathan Kaplan will referee the game.