by Mike Greenaway Over the course of 15 years of Super Rugby, the Sharks have settled into a distinctive pattern when it comes to matches against the Brumbies that is not unlike the relationship the Springboks have with the Wallabies – the home side invariably wins. The Sharks’ sole win in Canberra came way back... Continue Reading →
Willem Alberts has been the Sharks’ most valuable player this season
Willem Alberts has been the Sharks’ most valuable player this season, give or take Bismarck du Plessis and The Beast, and when he fronted at a press conference at the Shark Tank yesterday he was frank in his assessment of how the players aim to turn Newlands defeat into victory over the Brumbies at Kings... Continue Reading →
THE Brumbies can expect a serious backlash from the Sharks on Saturday evening
by Mike Greenaway The Brumbies can expect a serious backlash from the Sharks on Saturday evening (7.10pm kick-off) if the mood in the Sharks camp post the heavy Stormers defeat is anything to go by. Yesterday Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford spent hours poring over the match video, and he drew this conclusion: “I really... Continue Reading →
Sharks game against Stormers will be World War 3
THE Sharks this week enter a massively important three-match period that is sandwiched between their two mandatory byes, with two home games that simply have to be won and an away match against the Stormers which will be World War III. This week it is the Hurricanes at Kings Park, then the retribution encounter in... Continue Reading →
Sharks mid term report
MIKE GREENAWAY THE Sharks had their feet up this weekend watching a reasonably predictable round of Super Rugby unfold while the tournament rules banked them four points for the bye, but each player will know that when they reconvene for training tomorrow morning, they have to perform significantly better in the second half of the... Continue Reading →
DHL Stormers injury update – Peter Grant withdrawn
DHL Stormers injury update - Peter Grant withdrawn DHL Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant has been withdrawn from the squad to take on the MTN Lions in Johannesburg this weekend. Grant took a blow to the knee in practice on Tuesday and has not recovered sufficiently. Gary Van Aswegen will wear the 10 jersey, whilst Lionel... Continue Reading →
Bulls and the Boks and the world cup
Springbok rugby fans would have watched last week's corralling of the Bulls by the rampant Crusaders with a growing sense of foreboding. The men from Pretoria barely pointed a horn in anger at the Kiwis, despite frustrated captain Victor Matfield exhorting them to at least attempt a stampede. Instead they were reduced to a bunch... Continue Reading →
Conrad at fullback and no Habana( whoop whoop) !!!!!!! for DHL Stormers
DHL STORMERS SIDE TO TAKE ON THE MTN LIONS ANNOUNCED Coach Allister Coetzee today named a match 22, to take on the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday. CJ Van Der Linde gets a start and will wear the number 3 jersey, as Brok Harris, is rotated to the bench. Lock Rynhardt Elstadt falls out of... Continue Reading →
CHANGES TO REFEREE APPOINTMENTS FOR SUPER RUGBY ROUNDS 9 AND 10
CHANGES TO REFEREE APPOINTMENTS FOR SUPER RUGBY ROUNDS 9 AND 10 Injuries to Chris Pollock and Steve Walsh have prompted changes to the referees appointments for Round 9 matches in Super Rugby this weekend. Pollock has withdrawn from the match between the Rebels and the Highlanders in Melbourne on Friday and has been replaced by... Continue Reading →
Sharks doggedly did the business in Durban tonight
SHARKS (17) 27 LIONS (3) 3 by MIKE GREENAWAY AT KINGS PARK ON a day when the South African Super Rugby Conference was blown wide open by events in Timaru and Cape Town, the Sharks doggedly did the business in Durban to defeat the Lions for the tenth consecutive time in this competition. Considerably more... Continue Reading →
Stefan Terblanche, on Sat will earn an unprecented 200th caps for the Sharks
Saturday night’s match against the Lions in Durban will be a record-breaking affair for veteran Stefan Terblanche, who will earn an unprecented 200th caps for the Sharks while reaching the incredible milestone of 400 first class matches. Capped 37 times for the Springboks, he has played 112 Super Rugby and 87 Currie Cup matches for... Continue Reading →
Next week Patrick Lambie will have a pin removed from his fractured finger
In many ways Saturday’s home match against the Lions (7.05pm) is a must-win for the Sharks. Winning home matches is non-negotiable in a competition as tough as Super Rugby (and the Sharks have just lost to the Stormers at Kings Park); a fourth consecutive loss would seriously erode player confidence and, vitally, the Sharks need... Continue Reading →
There were no excuses from the Sharks camp on Saturday night
MIKE GREENAWAY There were no excuses from the Sharks camp on Saturday night following their 16-6 home defeat to the Stormers, and fair enough because the visitors had the upper hand throughout and the jaded Durbanites looked half asleep at times. “We were a couple of percent off the pace pretty much in every area... Continue Reading →
rugby sharks v Stormers match report
SHARKS (6) 6 STORMERS (13) 16 by MIKE GREENAWAY AT KINGS PARK THE super-charged Stormers rendered the Sharks positively leaden-footen in their unfortunate homecoming to the Shark Tank yesterday and the four log points the visitors banked will render inconsequential the debate as to whether the home side were stricken by their recent heavy travel... Continue Reading →
Savage Super showdown with the Stormers on Saturday
IT does not get any easier for the Sharks. Four countries in four weeks, the (relative) horror of an overseas flight in cattle class between London and Johannesburg, a jaw-droppping battle with a Crusaders team that is skilled and brutal in equal measures, and now a homecoming war with the Bulls-beating, SA Conference trend-setting, Stormers.... Continue Reading →
Playing the Crusaders at the neutral venue of Twickenham will give the Sharks a helping hand
Playing the Crusaders at the neutral venue of Twickenham will give the Sharks a helping hand, reckons captain John Smit, but they will nevertheless have to pull serious finger if they hope to live with the red-hot, seven-time champions. “Playing them in London is a little less frightening than playing them in Christchurch, but only... Continue Reading →
There are so many different slants we can take on the phenomenal throw-up of a Sharks versus Crusaders match at Twickenham
There are so many different slants we can take on the phenomenal throw-up of a Sharks versus Crusaders match at Twickenham, but the most significant from a rugby point of view is that the Sharks have their best chance in years of beating the seven-times champions in an ‘away’ fixture, and the Durban team’s decision... Continue Reading →
Canterbury Crusaders will host the Sharks in a historic, one-off match at the hallowed home of rugby, Twickenham in London, on Sunday March 27.
A ripple effect from the tragic Christchurch earthquake of February 22 is that the Canterbury Crusaders will host the Sharks in a historic, one-off match at the hallowed home of rugby, Twickenham in London, on Sunday March 27. England’s Rugby Football Union yesterday agreed to permitting a match which is likely to be the first... Continue Reading →
THE Sharks have taken up residence in the Auckland city centre
THE Sharks have taken up residence in the Auckland city centre after arriving in New Zealand with an impressive 10 log points from their fortnight in Australia, and when they take the 90-minute bus journey south to Hamilton on Thursday, they will be in the ideal mental place to take on the unpredictable Chiefs given... Continue Reading →
In a bizarre twist to the Sharks Super Rugby campaign, they could end up playing their tour match against the Crusaders at Twickenham in London on March 25.
In a bizarre twist to the Sharks Super Rugby campaign, they could end up playing their tour match against the Crusaders at Twickenham in London on March 25. Sharks CEO Brian van Zyl has been approached by his Crusaders counterpart who has proposed the game as a money-spinner for his union following the financial losses... Continue Reading →
