DURBAN - The Currie Cup kicks off this weekend, and the Sharks are in a strange situation with their Currie Cup team in action on Friday night and their Super Rugby team on quarter-finals duty the next day.
The Currie Cup runs concurrently with Super Rugby (until the Super Rugby final is over), and then it is all Currie Cup until the October final.
The Sharks’ Currie Cup team has a caretaker coach in Paul Anthony who will guide the team until the Sharks’ Super Rugby race is run, when the Super Rugby coaches will take over.
If the Sharks lose to the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday, Robert du Preez will take over from Anthony next week.
“I certainly hope that I will be in charge for three weeks,” said Anthony, “and hand over a winning Currie Cup team to a victorious Super Rugby coach, but let’s see how it works out.”
Anthony, a former assistant to Gary Gold in Super Rugby, has a handy team but in Bloemfontein they face practically the whole Cheetahs Super Rugby line-up.
Loose forward Keegan Daniel captains a Sharks Currie Cup team that welcomes a new signing in tighthead prop Ross Geldenhuys, who has packed down in scrums for the Lions, the Stormers, the Highlanders and the Kings.
Other signings revealed earlier this season include lock Tyler Paul (Kings), scrumhalf Cameron Wright (Montpellier) and loosehead prop Mzamo Majola (Kings).
Last year’s Currie Cup flyhalf, Inny Radebe, is on the bench in a comeback from injury while starting flyhalf Benhard Janse van Rensburg has had Super Rugby experience this year.
In the backine, there are Sharks stalwarts in wing Odwa Ndugane and centre S’bura Sithole.
The Cheetahs have named three Sevens Boks in their Currie Cup squad to host the Sharks, in Rosco Speckman, Chris Dry and Cecil Afrika, plus 13 Super Rugby regulars.
Cheetahs team:
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rosco Speckman, 13 Francois Venter, 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Niel Jordaan, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Charles Marais. Replacements: 16 Ox Nche, 17 Reinach Venter, 18 Rynier Bernado, 19 Chris Dry, 20 Zee Mkhabela, 21 JW Jonker, 22 Cecil Afrika.
Sharks team:
15 Courtney Winnaar, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 S’bura Sithole, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Ilunga Mukendi, 10 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Keegan Daniel (c), 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Wian Vosloo, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Mzamo Majola. Replacements: 16 Andy du Plessis, 17 Thierry Kounga, 18 Tyler Paul, 19 Bandisa Ndlovu, 20 Cameron Wright, 21 Brandon Bailing, 22 Inny Radebe.