Sharks coach opts for co-captains

New Cell C Sharks Currie Cup coach Sean Everitt has selected Tera Mtembu and Jeremy Ward as his team’s co-captains for the forthcoming domestic campaign.

The Sharks’ Super Rugby captain Louis Schreuder wasn’t considered for the role because he is currently recovering from a broken toe and won’t be available for the first part of the Currie Cup season.

Mtembu has captained the Sharks in both Super Rugby and in the Cup previously, while Ward was of course skipper of the South African under-20 team at the Junior World Championship in 2016.

“The decision to go with the co-captains will ensure leadership continuity on the field of play at all times,” said Everitt in explaining the selections.

“Both these players understand our diverse team culture and where we are heading collectively. More importantly they have the respect of the team and are natural leaders.

“I am a firm believer in the philosophy that every player should be a leader in their respective positions, however you do need your captain to be a voice of reason and someone with a calm head that the team can look to for direction during pressure situations. We have this in Tera and Jeremy.”

Andrew Evans and Tyler Paul were not included in the 39-man squad for the Currie Cup that Everitt named on Monday but the group does have some interesting inclusions, most notably former Springbok and Sharks wing JP Pietersen.

Pietersen returns from a stint playing overseas and has been contracted until the end of the 2020 Currie Cup season with a view to developing him with the Sharks’ age-group system after that for a future coaching role.

It is pleasing to see Inny Radebe back in a Sharks squad again and with Robert du Preez Junior no longer part of he group he and Rhyno Smith will have the responsibility of backing up Curwin Bosch, who with fullback Aphelele Fassi now going into his second Currie Cup season can expect to play all his rugby in the pivot position during the Currie Cup.

There is a healthy mixture of experience and youthful promise in the squad, with the new wave of talent coming through and developing for the next Currie Cup season represented by the likes of Phepsi Buthelezi, Dylan Richardson, Mzamo Majola, JJ van der Mescht, Kerron van Vuuren and Fassi being supplemented by old hands in Coenie Oosthuizen, Mtembu, Pietersen and Schreuder when he plays.

The Sharks open their Currie Cup season against Griquas in Durban on Friday night and will be hosting the team they beat in last year’s final, Western Province, in their second match.

With only six games scheduled again this year it will once again be imperative for the teams to hit the competition running and there is little room for error.

CELL C SHARKS CURRIE CUP SQUAD

Forwards: Bandisa Ndlovu, Coenie Oosthuizen, Craig Burden, Cullen Collopy, Dylan Richardson, Fez Mbatha, Gideon Koegelenberg, Hyron Andrews, Jacques Vermeulen, JJ van der Merscht, John-Hubert Meyer, Juan Schoeman, Kerron van Vuuren, Khutha Mchunu, Kwanda Dimaza, Luke Stringer, Michael Meyer, Mzamo Majola, Phepsi Buthelezi, Ruben van Heerden, Tera Mtembu (co-captain).

Backs: Aphelele Fassi, Boeta Chamberlain, Cameron Wright, Curwin Bosch, Gerald Williams, Ilunga Mukendi, Inny Radebe, Jeremy Ward (co-captain), JP Pietersen, Kobus van Wyk, Leolin Zas, Louis Schreuder, Lwazi Mvovo, Marius Louw, Muller du Plessis, Murray Koster, Rhyno Smith, Sanele Nohamba.