Pumas plan to hit Sharks fast and hard
The Steval Pumas face defending Absa Currie Cup champions, the Cell C Sharks at Growthpoint King's Park at 19:10 tonight.
Although there are only five players in the Sharks’ 22-man match squad who played in the 2013 Currie Cup final, this will be one of the Pumas’ sternest tests this season.
The Sharks squad boasts five Springboks and 39-cap England prop Matt Stevens.
Jimmy Stonehouse made three changes to the squad which beat the Cheetahs. Giant Mtyanda starts at lock with Marius Coetzer coming off the bench. Pumas 2013 player of the year Rosko Specman is among the reserves and will no doubt be given a chance to showcase his skills against his old team. The speedy winger played 14 matches for the Sharks in 2011 and 2012.
Sharks coach Brad Mcleod-Henderson would have made a thorough study of the video recording of the Pumas’ performance against the Cheetahs. He has the highest respect for the Pumas. “The Pumas showed why they are a very good side last week when they got a good win over the Free State Cheetahs. They’ve only lost two or three games in the last two years, their players have been together as a team for a while now and they know where they’re going. They’re well-structured and we’ll need to perform well on Friday night to get the result,” said the coach on Wednesday.
Jimmy Stonehouse was not entirely happy with the Pumas’ defence against the Cheetahs and the team worked hard this week to prepare for the onslaught expected from the Sharks.
“It will go better against the Sharks on Friday, even though they are a stronger team than the Cheetahs,” said a confident Stonehouse in a press conference on Tuesday.
Stonehouse said the team would not deviate from their game plan for the big match. “The biggest mistake we could make is playing low-risk rugby. We will stick to what we do best and play attacking rugby,” he promised.
Kick-off is at 19:10 and the match will be televised live on SS1/SS1HD.
Key match-ups
Need for speed: Springboks Odwa Ndungane and Tonderai Chavhanga vs Ruwellyn Isbell and Jerome Pretorius
Scrum war: Springbok Lourens Adriaanse, Kyle Cooper and Thomas du Toit vs DeJay Terblanche, Francois du Toit and Vincent Koch.
For the full team, get your copy of Lowvelder.
