Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira did not travel to New Zealand

The Cell C Sharks squad that has made the long trek to New Zealand to face the Crusaders in the semi final clash in Christchurch on Saturday, is missing some key players.

The Sharks will spend a week in Christchurch preparing for their Super Rugby semifinal against the Crusaders.

“We’ve got some great memories there — a couple of months ago we had a great time,” White said.

“I think it would be disrespectful not to get to New Zealand straight away. I’m old school and I think if you’re going to play in that country you’ve got to live in that country.”

“It’s a long-haul, it’s obviously about 36 hours to get there. It’s never been done before that a team who has to fly there has won, so we’ve got no chance of winning the game and we might as well just enjoy the 36 hours and have fun this week.”

Should the Sharks once again prevail, they might only be required to take a short flight over the Tasman to face the Waratahs in Sydney.

However, should the Brumbies beat the Waratahs in the second semi final, both they and the Sharks might have to take the long haul back to South Africa to face off in Durban to see who will be crowned as the 2014 Super Rugby champions.

Tendai Mtawarira has been excluded from the squad with Thomas du Toit deputising for the Springbok prop.

The Sharks will spend a week in Christchurch preparing for their Super Rugby semifinal against the Crusaders.

The majority of the squad who did duty on the weekend made the long journey across 10 time zones, although injury prevented Anton Bresler and Mtawarira’s inclusion.

After leaving the field injured in the 30th minute of Saturday’s game, Anton Bresler has not recovered so Marco Wentzel has been included in the touring squad to provide second row depth.

Stephan Lewies, named to play in the quarter-final match, but withdrawing late, is with the squad overseas.

“He was just sore before the Highlanders game, and we didn’t want to risk him and then have him come off early,” explained Director of Rugby Jake White.

With Mtawarira still battling with a neck injury, White has entrusted the loosehead duties to young Du Toit and Dale Chadwick.

“Thomas was outstanding, we have him and Dale. With Beast only 50-50, we’ve stuck with Thomas and Dale, and that’s not too bad considering how they performed,” White concluded.

Sharks Touring Squad: Lourens Adriaanse, Willem Alberts, Dale Chadwick, Marcell Coetzee, Kyle Cooper, Tonderai Chavhanga, Jean Deysel, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Thomas du Toit, Paul Jordaan, Ryan Kankowski, Patrick Lambie, Stephan Lewies, SP Marais, Charl McLeod, Odwa Ndungane, lubabalo Mtembu, Lwazi Mvovo, Etienne Oosthuizen, JP Pietersen, Cobus Reinach, Sibusiso Sithole, Francois Steyn, Marco Wentzel.