Burger set to start against Sharks

Schalk Burger is in form and physically primed to do battle for the Stormers against the Sharks at Newlands. Photo: Marty Melville

Schalk Burger is in form and physically primed to do battle for the Stormers against the Sharks at Newlands. Photo: Marty Melville

Published Mar 5, 2015

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Schalk Burger is in form and physically primed to do battle for the Stormers against the Sharks at Newlands on Saturday.

Burger and fit-again Springbok enforcer lock Eben Etzebeth are expected to replace blindside brute Michael Rhodes (knee) and mobile utility forward Jurie van Vuuren (shoulder) who both suffered injuries during last week’s 22-19 win against the Lions at Ellis Park.

The Sharks were also reinforced with some heavy artillery this week. Willem Alberts, the 120kg Bok flanker, was given the green light to return from a long-term back injury, while fellow Test stalwarts Frans Steyn and JP Pietersen arrived from their commitments in Japan.

Steyn (1.91m, 110kgs) and Pietersen (1.9m, 106kgs) would add significant size to a Sharks backline that already dwarfs the Stormers unit.

The Lions had little difficulty turning over their undersized Stormers rivals at the tackle point last week, but Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold warned that there are inherent risks linked to leveraging such a physical advantage against the likes of explosive fullback Cheslin Kolbe.

“It is an opportunity, and something that we’d have to look at nicely,” said the Sharks chief. “But contestable kicks are 50/50 and if you get it wrong against the Stormers, then it will be a long day and you’ll be tackling some proper shadows.

“They’ve got lethal steppers, certainly the most lethal backline in the SA Conference, and we just have to be careful that we don’t think that if we put boot to ball everything will go our way.

“Two losses and one win is not a great start, and we’re looking to improve in all areas across the park,” said Gold. “But I think our plan is the right plan.

“It hasn’t helped that two of our games have been in rain – 100ml of water fell on the day we played the Cheetahs – but I’m a big believer that if you start looking to blame the conditions or the ref, you’re covering up the cracks of your own problem.

“The ref will make mistakes, but if we just focus on that we’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

A third loss against South African opponents could relegate them to chasing play-off qualification via the wildcard route.

“This is massive for us. We’ve already lost at home, so we could level the playing fields (in the SA Conference) and stay in the hunt (by winning at Newlands), or we’ll have to start playing catch-up. - The Star

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