The last thing an already inexperienced Hollywoodbets Sharks team needed on the eve of their clash with the All Blacks in Durban was the loss of two of the few inexperienced players in their group.
And yet that is what happened to the Sharks on the eve of the second tour match, with coach JP Pietersen confirming on Monday that both lock Emile van Heerden and reserve forward Vincent Tshituka had been forced to withdraw from the team.
Admittedly Corne Rahl, who replaces Tshituka on the bench, is a highly promising young lock, but it will be the loss of the experience the two withdrawn players would have brought that will be most felt by the Durbanites.
As it was, Van Heerden and Tshituka were part of a five man group of relatively experienced players in an otherwise very callow though promising team that will front the All Blacks under the Hollywoodbets Kings Park lights on Tuesday night. The others are Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Koch, and Manu Tshituka.
Arrayed against that is what looks like the All Blacks shadow team. Luke Jacobson gets his first chance to captain his country because of the absence of tour captain Ardie Savea, who will only arrive in South Africa in time for the series kick-off in Johannesburg on 22 August, and the injury that will keep Codie Taylor out until the weekend.
Otherwise it is a team mostly made up of players who will play at Ellis Park, with All Black coach Dave Rennie rightly deciding that 10 days before the event is the optimum time to play the players who will be involved in what promises to be a particularly intense and attritional Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
Playing the top players against the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday would have given his top team five consecutive weeks to front, which is too much.
It would be interesting to know how Rennie, who has been fairly open in his opinion that the Sharks are the weakest of the local URC clubs that his team will play on this tour, really appreciates the timing of this fixture and the quality of the opposition.
The Stormers gave his first selection, which is very different to the one that will play in Durban, a tough time in the opener in Cape Town last Friday and the Cape side posed many questions that should require answering on Tuesday night.
Yet how do you answer questions, and work on weak aspects of your game, if the opposition doesn’t front. The Sharks do have every intention of fronting, and young Nick Hatton is a fine captain who should get the best out of his team. And make no mistake, there are some promising and talented players in the Sharks’ line-up.
It is just that this is so much further from what you’d expect the Sharks to line up if they were at full strength than even the Stormers, who missed nine Boks, were in Cape Town last Friday. And when 22-year-old Jurenzo Julius suddenly finds himself being the most experienced back, then you understand the magnitude of the task awaiting the young Sharks.
As predicted a cold front swept over Durban on Monday and the inclement weather will persist through the day and up until the match kick-off time. Wet weather is often a leveller, and that might mitigate against those who say Kings Park will be host to a cricket score. But that is only if you forget how used to, and how good, the All Blacks are at playing in wet weather.
It was at Tuesday’s match venue that the All Blacks scored one of their statement wins against the Boks, blowing the South Africans away 57-15 here in 2016, a result only eclipsed in the Bok hall of infamy by the 57-0 copped a year later in Albany.
The weather notwithstanding, it would be entirely predictable if Tuesday’s game follows the same flow. The question is whether that will gain anything for the All Blacks other than maybe confidence. After the DHL Stadium tour opener they looked like they could do with another test of their aerial skills, for in Cape Town they looked like they were incapable of catching. They were also shown up on maul defence and in the scrums.
Will this Sharks team give them the examination they need in those areas? It would appear unlikely, although there can be no doubting about how committed the young Sharks team will be.
“We have been working on preparing for a robust display that will hopefully make us competitive against the All Blacks,” said Pietersen in his eve of the match press conference.
Just being competitive would be like a massive win for the Sharks - and maybe for Rennie too if he is to get anything out of the exercise.
TEAMS
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Zekhethelo Siyaya, Donovan Don, Jurenzo Julius, Murray Koster, Litelihe Bester, Vusi Moyo, Bradley Davids, Nick Hatton, Manu Tshituka, Phepsi Buthelezi, Deon Slabbert, Hendre Stassen, Vincent Koch, Eduan Swart, Nemo Roelofse.
Replacements: Liam van Wyk, Rambo Kubekha, Simphiwe Ngobese, Corne Rahl, Matt Ramoa, Ivan van Zyl, Luan Giliomee, Ma’a Nonu.
All Blacks: Damian McKenzie, Fehi Fineanganofo, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Ruben Love, Kyle Preston, Luke Jacobson (captain), Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i, Sam Darry, Josh Lord, Fletcher Newell, Asafo Aumua, Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: Bradley Slater, Ollie Norris, Pasilio Tosi, Ethan Blackadder, Semisi Ta’eiloa, Cam Roigard, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Emoni Narawa.
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Kick-off: 7:10pm
Prediction: All Blacks to win by 40 or more