SA U20 flyhalf Vusi Moyo earns his first start for the Sharks as coach JP Pietersen continues backing youngsters despite two heavy losses.
The sharks are sticking with their approach of giving youngsters a chance, believing the long-term rewards outweigh their short-term challenges.
The Sharks lost their first two Currie Cup matches heavily (46–5 to the Lions in Joburg and then 64–0 to the Bulls in Pretoria). The Gauteng sides have opted to back more senior, though fringe, players, and this has worked well for them in the competition. The two sides each have 10 points after bonus-point wins.
The Sharks, however, sit with no wins and a points difference of -105 with five games to go. Believing their strategy of building depth will pay off in the prolonged seasons ahead, they opted for another young and relatively inexperienced side to play the Cheetahs on Saturday (kick-off 5.10pm).
Vusi Moyo earns first start
This means that Vusi Moyo, who shone in the Junior Springboks’ World Rugby U20 Championship title win, receives his first professional rugby start after playing off the bench against the Bulls.
He is one of the many bright lights emerging from the U20 side, a flyhalf with excellent composure in front of posts, slotting kicks from even over 50m.
He replaces Jean Smith, who will play from the bench, and teams up with Sharks vice-captain Bradley Davids at nine. When asked about this, coach JP Pietersen said after scoring just five points in two matches, the Sharks were desperate to find combinations that would yield fruit.
“We are just trying combinations with Bradley [Davids] and [Vusi] Moyo and then Jean [Smith] and Ceano [Everson] off the bench,” Pietersen said. “See if they can enlighten the team and give us more of an attacking opportunity or something that can spark the team.
“We don’t have a lot of time. We hardly had a pre-season. So in quite a short amount of time, we need to look for solutions.”
Sharks back their youngsters for future rewards
Another SA U20 player, Matt Romao, features in the side that has seen some chopping and changing for the Cheetahs. See the Sharks’ matchday 23 here.
“Every union has their own plan,” the Sharks coach added. “If you look at us and Western Province, we have a plan where we want to develop youth, get growth for our United Rugby Championship because we know it is a long competition.
“You can see the Bulls and Lions have a different route, and only time will tell which is the right way.”
