Sharks vs Cheetahs: Sharks win 26-10

Roar Guru

9th July, 2016

1290 Reads

Kick-off: 3:15am (AEST)
Venue: Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Stuart Berry
Betting: Sharks $1.27, Cheetahs $3.75
TV: Fox Sports, live

Sharks
1. Tendai Mtawarira, 2. Franco Marais, 3. Coenraad Oosthuizen, 4. Ettienne Oosthuizen, 5. Stephan Lewies, 6. Keegan Daniel, 7. Jean-Luc du Preez, 8. Phillip van der Walt, 9. Michael Claassens, 10. Garth April, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 12. Andrew Esterhuizen, 13. J.P Pietersen, 14. Sibusiso Sithole, 15. Rhyno Smith.

Subs: 16. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17. Thomas du Toit, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Ruan Botha, 20. Lubabalo Mtembu, 21. Stefan Ungerer, 22. Helmar Williams, 23. Curwin Bosch.

Cheetahs
1. Ox Nche, 2. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 3. Maks van Dyk, 4. Carl Wegner, 5. Francois Uys, 6. Uzair Cassiem, 7. Teboho Mohoje, 8. Paul Schoeman, 9. Shaun Venter, 10. Fred Zeilinga, 11. Raymond Rhule, 12. Michael van der Spuy, 13. Francois Venter, 14. Sergeal Petersen, 15. Clayton Blommetjies.

Subs: 16. Joeseph Dweba, 17. Charles Marais, 18. Johannes Coetzee, 19.Reniel Hugo, 20. Henco Venter, 21. Tian Meyer, 22. George Whitehead, 23. William Small-Smith.

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Nathan Farebrother

Roar Guru

9th July, 2016

1290 Reads

Match result:

The Sharks have kept themselves in the Super Rugby finals race with a 16-point win over the Cheetahs on Saturday morning.

» Click here for the match report

Final score
Sharks 26
Cheetahs 10

Match preview:

The Sharks and the Cheetahs will meet in the penultimate round of this Super Rugby season. Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a blog of the game from 3:15am AEST.

The Sharks head into this matchup without two of their best and most influential, Pat Lambie and Willie le Roux. 24-year-old flyhalf Garth April will start due to Lambie’s continued absence, while Rhyno Smith takes up the duties at the back.

Sharks coach Gary Gold knows that this last spot for the playoffs is theirs to lose, and it’s not going to come easily against an unpredictable Cheetahs side.

“The Cheetahs are a difficult team to prepare against, there is no lack of intent from them and they use the full width of the field and they’re effective with their passing game, with a great backline. They’re a dangerous team and we’re going into this game showing them lot of respect,” Gold said.

“The Cheetahs are coming here to play, we have to have our wits about us.”

The Sharks’ hopes of making the play-offs may well depend on this match, though the game prior to this one between the Bulls and the Sunwolves will no doubt have some impact as well. If the Bulls get the win there, there’ll be a fair bit of pressure on the Sharks coming into this one.

Last weekend, the Cheetahs did have a rather tough outing against the Force and only came away with a one-point win against the strugglers of the Australian conference.

Coach Franco Smith has named one change in the starting lineup. Scrumhalf Tian Meyer is relegated to the bench in favour of Shaun Venter.

Prediction
Out of the last nine meetings between these two sides, the away team has won six of them. However, I’m sure that will mean very little in such an important match. The Sharks should still be too strong in the end.

Sharks by 7.

Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a blog of the game from 3:15am AEST.

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