Sharks to bounce back against Bulls after disruptive week

The Sharks are aiming to bounce back in their United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter against the Bulls at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday (kick-off 6pm), after a disruptive week.

On Thursday the Sharks named a strong team for their URC derby, with a slew of Springbok stars, led by captain Siya Kolisi returning to the starting lineup, but also left a number of them out due to injury, with Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi the big names missing out.

Sharks coach John Plumtree admitted it had been a difficult build-up, but they were ready to put it all behind them against their Highveld rivals.

“We had some disruptions with injuries and illness in camp, so it’s been a disruptive week. Eben failed his sway test (after sustaining a concussion a few weeks ago), so he is unavailable.

“We haven’t had a perfect week by any means. But this is the competition, and we just have to be adaptable. You’ve got to be flexible, and deal with each day as it comes.”

Injury worries

Plumtree admitted that most of the injured players would be unavailable for both their local derbies over the Christmas period, which includes their game against the Stormers in Cape Town next week, and is hoping to have them back in time for the Champions Cup in January.

“I’m hoping to have everyone back by Toulouse (match). The next two games are going to be a bit patchy in terms of a full strength side, because we got some Springboks resting (protocols) coming up as well,” explained Plumtree.

“Obviously there’s still some injuries. But it’s still a good side that we’re putting out this weekend. We’ve also had a bit of sickness as well, Dylan Richardson and Emile van Heerden couldn’t train today (Thursday).

“We just had a little bit of that just to add to everything else. These are the challenges you have.”

Due to their injury struggles the Sharks sent an understrength team to England to face Leicester Tigers in the Champions Cup over the past weekend and were hammered 56-17, so they will be eager to set things right with a big performance this weekend.

“We don’t like losing by that margin (against Tigers). There is an expected response. It’s good to be back home in front of our supporters, and playing against a side like the Bulls would always bring the best out of us,” said Plumtree.

“I am sure they will target our pack. Our breakdown work also needs to be efficient, because they have three or four guys fetching in that team.”