Previews: Aussie matches Round 5

Sharks v. Reds     Kings Park, Durban. Sunday 2.05am (AEDT)

The Sharks are one of the form teams in the competition having earned three comfortable wins out of three. They are playing smart rugby in the humid conditions and the footprint of Jake White is obvious. Firebrands like Frans Steyn and Ryan Kankowski are playing team rugby and Bismarck du Plessis is looking like a leader rather than just the captain.

The Reds beat the Cheetahs last week at home but their performance was flawed and they were bloody awful the week before against the Waratahs. When the Cheetahs were down to 14 men in Round 4 they scored a try from a charge-down of a Genia kick and another from an interception of a careless Cooper pass.

That won’t do against the Sharks.

The teams

Sharks—They just have to play Jake White rugby. Instead of JW rugby in freezing conditions in Canberra it will be JW rugby in humid conditions in Durban—but it will be the same play-it-in-their-half, ugly-is-OK, game.

Patrick Lambie returns from sickness to play flyhalf replacing Frans Steyn, but the bazooka goal kicker is still in the run-on team, in the midfield.  He replaces the exciting Paul Jordaan, who is injured and out for a month.  Winger Odwa Ndgungane is absent on compassionate grounds; however winger JP Pietersen is able to sub for him after returning from a stint in Japan recently.

Young gun lock Pieter-Steph du Toit misses the game because of a knee injury and Stephan Lewies starts instead.

Reds—They should be aware of the the high humidity expected at Kings Park and not over-do the passing, Especially they must put aside the miracle balls thrown just before receivers contact tacklers. And they have to watch their discipline, even a fair distance from their posts, because Frans Steyn is knocking them over from a long way out.

Some of their key stats are ropey compared to that of the Sharks but they should not fear the Shark’s scrum. Their success rate at 90% is one of the best in Super Rugby, and, surprisingly, the big Sharks scrum has one of the worst at 75%..

Winger Lachie Turner starts instead of Dom Shipperley after recovering from a knee injury which means that Rod Davies retains his spot from last week.

In the forwards hooker Saia Fainga’a starts this week despite James Hanson having a cracking game in Round 4, and James Slipper starts at LHP instead of Ben Daley. Fainga’a and Slipper had slight cork problems last week and were rested on the bench. Hanson and Daley will be the reserves against the Sharks.

Prediction—The smart money and even the dumb money is on the Sharks.

The Reds had a gutsy win in their first game in Canberra against the Brumbies, Jake White’s old team, so you have to give them some chance against his current team who play in the same abrasive, percentage style. However, I expect the Sharks forwards to out-muscle the Reds pack and thereby to blunt the effect of Will Genia and Quade Cooper, just as the Waratahs did.

The Queenslanders haven’t won at Kings Park in ten years and I can’t see them breaking that sequence.    Sharks by 12

Sharks—1. Tendai Mtawarira, 2. Bismarck du Plessis (c), 3. Jannie du Plessis, 4. Anton Bresler, 5. Stephan Lewies, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 7. Willem Alberts, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 9. Cobus Reinach ,10. Patrick Lambie,11. Lwazi Mvovo , 12. Frans Steyn 13. S’bura Sithole 14. JP Pietersen 15. SP Marais. Replacements—16. Kyle Cooper , 17. Dale Chadwick , 18. Lourens Adriaanse , 19. TBC , 20. Tera Mtembu , 21. Charl McLeod , 22. Heimar Williams , 23. Jaco van Tonder.

Reds—1. James Slipper, 2. Saia Fainga’a, 3. Greg Holmes, 4. James Horwill, 5. Rob Simmons, 6. Ed Quirk, 7. Liam Gill, 8. Jake Schatz, 9.Will Genia, 10. Quade Cooper,  11. Lachie Turner, 12. Mike Harris, 13. Chris Feauai-Sautia, 14. Rod Davies, 15. Aidan Toua. Replacements—16. James Hanson, 17. Ben Daley, 18. Jono Owen, 19. Ed O’Donoghue, 20. Beau Robinson, 21. Nick Frisby, 22. Ben Tapuai, 23. Dom Shipperley.