Eben Etzebeth is one of eight World Cup winners, and 11 Springboks overall, in the Sharks lineup for their Challenge Cup quarter-final showdown against Edinburgh.
The Sharks have stacked their team with 11 capped Springboks for their all-important Challenge Cup quarter-final against Edinburgh.
In the Challenge Cup, the Sharks have performed admirably in spite of their apparent and mysterious problems in the United Rugby Championship. They have progressed to the European tournament’s playoffs and will play Scottish team Edinburgh in a quarterfinal.
Additionally, coach John Plumtree has summoned the Springbok cavalry at his disposal. In the Sharks’ match 23, eleven Springboks have been selected: Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch, Jaden Hendrikse, Makazole Mapimpi, Lukhanyo Am, Grant Williams (all World Cup winners), Aphelele Fassi, Ntuthuko Mchunu, and Curwin Bosch.
SHARKS NAME FORMIDABLE LINEUP
In a starting lineup featuring only two changes from the Sharks side that beat Zebre in the round of 16 playoffs last week, Etzebeth makes a welcome return from injury at No 4 and Dan Jooste comes in at hooker in place of Corne Rahl, who moves to the bench.
Edinburgh, meanwhile, has chosen a match day squad full of Test players for the crucial match, which gets underway at Kings Park on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
Not to be outdone by the Sharks, Edinburgh has three international players who were born in South Africa in its lineup. These are Duhan van der Merwe, a wing, and props WP Nel and Pierre Schoeman, who all presently play Test rugby for Scotland.
The trio were in Scotland’s 33-man squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, where they came up against the Springboks — including those now in the Sharks team — in the pool stages of the tournament.
Sharks — 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13. Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Ethan Hooker, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Lappies Labuschagne, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Francois Venter.
Edinburgh — 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Jacob Henry, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Ali Price, 22 James Lang, 23 Chris Dean.
