DURBAN – Sharks Head Coach Robert du Preez has kept to his word by selecting four uncapped players in his 27-man touring squad for the Super Rugby competition.
Du Preez, on Thursday, announced his final 45-man Vodacom Super Rugby squad as well as a 27-man touring squad, which will depart for Australia on Saturday afternoon.
The pre-season warm-up matches gave the coaching team the opportunity to see how players performed after 11 weeks of pre-season training to getting actual game-time.
Du Preez stated at the outset that if players put up their hands in the warm-up matches he would consider them and player ages would not influence his decision when picking a touring squad.
Du Preez kept true to his word by selecting four uncapped Super Rugby players to join the touring squad – Stephan Coetzee, Jean Droste, Sbu Nkosi and new signing Jacques Vermeulen.
Joining them in the touring squad are the other new signings Kobus van Wyk, Jeremy Ward and the highly experienced French international Clement Poitrenaud. Among the new faces in the squad the coach has also opted for continuity in certain positions by selecting players who did duty for theSharks in last year’s tournament.
“It was an extremely tough decision to settle on this 27-man touring squad. We were initially looking at selecting a 15/12 split for the tour, but due to the cover we have amongst the backs the decision was taken to go with 16 forwards and 11 backs”, added du Preez.
“The 27 players selected have all put up their hands not only during the pre-season, but in the two warm-up matches. There is a good balance between experience and youth in this travelling squad.
"A guy like Sbu Nkosi, who played for the SA U/20’s last year, has impressed me with his strong work ethic and he deserves his chance.” The most capped Sharks player forming part of the touring squad is Lwazi Mvovo on 99 Vodacom Super Rugby caps and who is set to earn a well-deserved milestone on tour. He will join an illustrious club of centurions who have played 100 Vodacom Super Rugby games for the Sharks.
Du Preez added: “There are a lot of players in our 45-man squad who are definitely going to be in the mix going forward. There is great depth, but unfortunately only 27 players can tour.”
The 27-man touring squad:
Forwards:
Chiliboy Ralepelle, Coenie Oosthuizen, Etienne Oosthuizen, Franco Marais, Jacques Vermeulen, Jean Droste, Jean-Luc du Preez, Juan Schoeman, Lourens Adriaanse, Philip van der Walt, Ruan Botha, Stephan Coetzee, Stephan Lewies, Tendai Mtawarira, Tera Mtembu, Thomas du Toit
Backs:
Andre Esterhuizen, Clement Poitrenaud, Cobus Reinach, Curwin Bosch, Jeremy Ward, Kobus van Wyk, Lukhanyo Am, Lwazi Mvovo, Michael Claassens, Patrick Lambie, Sbu Nkosi