Pat Lambie
There are suggestions that Pat Lambie could still make a comeback before the play-offs in July.
Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White is yet to decide whether Frans Steyn or Tim Swiel will start at flyhalf against the Cheetahs this weekend.
Fred Zeilinga injured his hamstring in the victory over the Lions at Ellis Park last Saturday and was replaced by Steyn who shifted from inside centre and performed well at pivot.
Zeilinga joins first-choice flyhalf Pat Lambie on the sidelines, with his injury expected to rule him out for a couple of weeks, which leaves White with an interesting decision.
The Cell C Sharks half-back pairing of Pat Lambie and Cobus Reinach will not feature in the near future of the Vodacom Super Rugby tournament after sustaining injuries against the Bulls on Saturday night.
Jake White has never been one of those coaches who makes excuses, and he refused to use injuries as an excuse for his Cell C Sharks team’s defeat to the Vodacom Bulls as an excuse, but if he was honest he would probably agree that the disruption has come in the area he can least afford it as his team heads into a critical stage of the Vodacom Super Rugby campaign.
Before the season kicked off, White could well have pinpointed flyhalf and No 5 lock as the areas where depth was a concern. He needed Patrick Lambie to be fit for as many games as possible, and Pieter-Steph du Toit was so far ahead of the rest when it came to leading the lineout and posing a threat to opposition ball that he was near to indispensable.
A barrage of news and speculation greets us early on a Monday morning after a power game against Wales by the Springboks, this past weekend.
Firstly, the match analysis… reports indicating that Team Management and leaders in the side are lauding Fourie du Preez for his Man Of The Match performance against Wales.
Secondly, it appears that the injury to Bok flyhalf Morné Steyn, who had to leave the field after only 18 minutes in the game is not serious, with a troublesome back spasm picked up in the pre-game warm-up blamed and the player taken off to prevent real injury.
Thirdly, with 1 win under the belt and 2 games remaining, the next one being against Scotland on Sunday, speculation is rife whether Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer will rest some weary players and pick a hand full of other players, to test new combinations against what should be South Africa’s weakest opposition on tour.
We will discuss the above under seperate headings below:
Experienced backline stars JP Pietersen and Jaque Fourie are back in the Springbok team for Saturday’s Castle Lager Outgoing Tour opener against Wales in Cardiff, while Frans Malherbe will make his Test debut at the Millennium Stadium.
In naming his side for Saturday’s Test against the current Six Nations champions, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has decided to hand Fourie his first Test for South Africa since the Rugby World Cup in 2011, while a combination of injury and non-availability means Pietersen is back for his first taste of international rugby yet this season.
The Springboks may have an alternative captain leading them onto the field for their second tour match against Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Sharks coach John Plumtree has made it public knowledge that he will select his captain for the season next week sometime, and this got me thinking as to who the candidates could be. My 2 minute self debate ended quite simply with another year under Keegan Daniel. But then I had a few beers with a good mate of mine, and this is what we decided would be best for the Black and White.
Five members of the Springboks’ World Cup squad have been nominated for the SA Rugby Player of the Year Award, with the winner due to be announced at a function at Gold Reef City on November 3.
Victor Matfield has been named as captain of the Springbok end-of-year tour on the first day of a preliminary training squad get together.
The International Rugby Board has announced the Match Official appointments for the schedule of international matches to be played between October 30 and December 4, 2010.
There is yet to be a team or squad selected that everyone agrees with. Continue reading