Pietersen Leaves Out Springboks Stars As Sharks Prepare For Sale Sharks

Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach JP Pietersen has opted to leave out several Springbok players ahead of their Investec Champions Cup encounter against Sale Sharks on Saturday.

The third-round Champions Cup fixture comes shortly after the Sharks’ defeat to the Emirates Lions in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship last weekend. Despite that setback, Pietersen has named a squad that blends exciting young talent with experienced campaigners, aiming to strike the right balance between energy and composure.

Nick Hatton once again leads the team in their away leg pool match overseas, having captained a similar-looking team in their first-round match against Toulouse just over a month ago.

Lee-Marvin Mazibuko and Eduan Swart remain from that fixture, with Springbok Vincent Koch returning to action, adding his vast experience to the young front row, while Corne’ Rahl partners up with Emile van Heerden in the second row, having made his return to action off the bench last week against the Lions.

Hatton partners up with Tinotenda Mavesere and Emmanuel Tshituka in the back row, completing an exciting forward pack.

The backline is completely changed from last week, but reminiscent of the team that travelled to France to play Toulouse in round one, with Ross Braude again at scrumhalf, where he partners Siya Masuku as the halfback pairing, Le Roux Malan is on the wing, having previously played at outside centre, with Jurenzo Julius paired with Francois Venter in the midfield and Yaw Penxe and Hakeem Kunene completing the back three alongside Malan.

Both teams come into this clash with a won-one-lost-one record, the Hollywoodbets Sharks defeating Saracens at home and losing to Toulouse away, while Sale Sharks lost at home to Glasgow Warriors, but defeated Clermont Auvergne away, both teams looking to put one over their namesake in a spicy clash that offers so much promise.

Saturday’s match at CorpAcq Stadium in Manchester kicks off at 19.30pm SA Time.

Hollywoodbets Sharks
1.    Lee-Marvin Mazibuko
2.    Eduan Swart
3.    Vincent Koch
4.    Corne’ Rahl
5.    Emile van Heerden
6.    Tinotenda Mavesere
7.    Emmanuel Tshituka
8.    Nick Hatton (C)
9.    Ross Braude
10.    Siya Masuku
11.    Le Roux Malan
12.    Jurenzo Julius
13.    Francois Venter
14.    Yaw Penxe
15.    Hakeem Kunene

Replacements
16.    Ethan Bester
17.    Phatu Ganyane
18.    Mawande Mdanda
19.    Vincent Tshituka
20.    Matt Romao
21.    Ceano Everson *
22.    Jean Smith
23.    Marnus Potgieter