DURBAN – The Sharks may have walked away from Brisbane with shoulders slouched, but they, at least, walked away.
There were no injuries to report of from forwards coach Ryan Strudwick, in their base in Australia, but he did bemoan the loss of lock Etienne Oosthuizen to suspension.
The big No 4 plays an important, if not unnoticed, role for the Sharks. He does the work that only a coach can love, putting in huge amount of effort around the park. So it is unsurprising that coach Strudwick admits that they will miss him when they take on the Brumbies, as well as the Waratahs back home, because of a two-week ban.
Oosthuizen was cited after the Reds match for striking an opponent after he pleaded guilty, and now the Sharks have to make other plans for their engine room. Former Stormers man Ruan Botha has been the other player in the middle of the pack, and one-cap Springbok Stephan Lewies will join for the Brumbies match.
“It is not ideal, but Stephan (Lewies) will come in, probably a little sooner than expected, because he is coming back from injury, but we have full faith in him,” Strudwick explained.
“Etienne is a big loss for us, he is a solid player that gets a lot of work done behind the scenes. He is not the glory player, but his stats are one of the highest, if not the highest, week-in and week-out, so he will be missed.”
The Sharks did decide to overload their forwards in their squad who travelled to Australia, so it allows them to slot Lewies into the starting line-up, with youngster Jean Droste in line to make his Super Rugby debut. The former Bulls junior lock has had plenty of good things said about him, and coach Strudwick thinks it is his time to step up to the plate.
“I am happy for Jean (Droste),” Strudwick beamed. “He is coming through the ranks nicely and it is time he stepped up. He is a very exciting player with a great work-rate, also quick around the park and he is formidable in the lineout, so he will slot in quite easily and we expect big things.”
One thing this restructuring does give the Sharks, however, is more ability in the air as both Botha and Lewies are lineout maestros.