Sharks v Stormers – who will win?

The Stormers, bruised from their opening loss to the Bulls, will travel to Kings Park to take on the Sharks on Friday, 1 March 2013, in Round 3 of the Super Rugby tournament.

While grabbing the win in Round 2, the Sharks did show weaknesses in their defence against the Cheetahs. The men from Durban will have to be a lot more clinical if they’re to hold out the Stormers.

““We were a bit clumsy at the breakdown, we would secure the ball comfortably and then it would pop out the side and we’d ask: ‘how did that happen?’ A couple of times we were short of numbers and got turned over, a couple of times poor carrying into contact,” said Sharks coach John Plumtree.

“The Stormers hit you hard, so you need to make sure you maintain possession when they do. We’ve worked on that in training, it’s a big focus, you need to keep the ball,” added Plumtree.

The team remains largely the same, with the only change coming in the form of Jean Deysel, who moves into the starting line-up ahead of Jacques Botes.

The Stormers have brought in Frans Malherbe into the front row, possibly expecting a tougher battle against Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira.

Elton Jantjies, despite a shaky performance against the Bulls, retains his starting position at flyhalf. The young playmaker will need to improve his kicking accuracy and decision making if he’s to hold onto his starting role.

Jaco Taute has been ruled out of the match, but the more-than-capable Joe Pietersen moves into the starting XV.

Steven Kitshoff, Andries Bekker and Duane Vermeulen all played big roles last week, and will need to step it up another notch against the Sharks in Durban.

Kick-off is on Saturday, 2^nd of March 2013, at 19:10 CAT (SA, GMT+2).

Stormers team:

15. Joe Pietersen 14. Gio Aplon 13. Jean de Villiers (captain) 12. Damian de Allende 11. Bryan Habana 10. Elton Jantjies 9. Nic Groom 8. Duane Vermeulen (vice-captain) 7. Rynhardt Elstadt 6. Siya Kolisi 5. Andries Bekker 4. De Kock Steenkamp 3. Frans Malherbe 2. Deon Fourie 1. Steven Kitshoff
Reserves: 16. Martin Bezuidenhout 17. Pat Cilliers 18. Don Armand 19. Nizaam Carr 20. Louis Schreuder 21. Peter Grant 22. Gerhard van den Heever

Sharks team:

15. Louis Ludik, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Paul Jordaan, 12. Frans Steyn (c), 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Pat Lambie, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Jean Deysel, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Franco van der Merwe, 4. Anton Bresler, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Craig Burden, 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Wiehahn Herbst, 18. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 19. Jacques Botes, 20. Charl McLeod, 21. Meyer Bosman, 22. Odwa Ndungane