Reds v Sharks: Teams
The unbeaten Sharks visit Queensland on Saturday to take on the Reds.
Last Updated: 13/03/09 10:56am
This one should be pretty straightforward. Yes the Reds are better. Yes they were unlucky not to win in Sydney last week. No, that doesn't even vaguely put them in the frame to beat the Sharks.
The visitors will not be as intimidated by the humid seaside climate as the Cheetahs were three weeks ago because they are used to it, and whatever the Reds can offer, the Sharks can throw back in spades. Berrick Barnes? Francois Steyn. Digby Ioane? Adi Jacobs. Daniel Braid? Jacques Botes.
The visitors are the only unbeaten team playing this weekend and are aiming for top spot - on the basis of last week, they'll probably be thinking bonus point as well.
The reinstatement of Ioane at centre means he should pose the similar attacking threat he did against the Cheetahs a fortnight ago, but the losses of Van Humphries and Greg Holmes will be hard for the Reds to wear up front, exposing their relative lack of depth.
Thus they will probably move the ball around again, but the Sharks are masters of that game as we saw by their brilliant counter-attacking performance last week against the blues. With Jacobs and JP Pietersen on song, Botes popping up in all the right places, and the myriad of other threats in the side, a fast mobile game will suit them just fine.
Reds: 15 Mark McLinden, 14 Blair Connor, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Berrick Barnes (c), 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Ben Lucas, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Hugh McMeniman, 4 Adam Byrnes, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Jack Kennedy, 18 Ezra Taylor, 19 Poutasi Luafutu, 20 Will Genia, 21 Anthony Faingaa, 22 Rod Davies.
The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Keegan Daniel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (c), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 John Smit, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Riaan Swanepoel, 22 Luzuko Vulindlu.
