11 Boks start for Sharks

Durban – Cell C Sharks director of rugby Jake White has named his team to play the Bulls in tomorrow’s opening Super Rugby clash against the Bulls at Kings Park. According to Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick, the team White has named includes 11 Springboks in the starting line-up with a further three on the bench as he has been able to name pretty much a full-strength side. Wing Odwa Ndungane admitted that they know what is coming from the Bulls who can be relied on to play a similar style of rugby the Sharks have grown accustomed to.

“We know what to expect,” said Ndungane. “They always bring physicality and the back three can expect a lot of high balls to field. We have to be able to deal with their strengths, we’ve had a good week of preparation and so hopefully it all comes together on Saturday.

On paper, we have one of the strongest teams, but we cannot just relax and expect to arrive and win the games. We have to work really hard and front up on game-day.” White admitted that a big crowd will certainly spur the players onto a performance worthy of the team’s name.

“The first couple of games here, there’s a buzz in Durban, people want to come and watch games here, maybe to have the home games early on and get the whole crowd behind us is going to be a bonus. Had we gone away at the start and lost that opportunity for our home fans to come and watch this new team, perhaps they wouldn’t have had the same reward. For us, with the new set up, maybe playing the first few games at home and having the fans behind us could be a massive advantage.” The match kicks off at 19:10 tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Sanzar has confirmed that from the 2014 Super Rugby season, teams will no longer be awarded log points for their bye weeks.

Sanzar media manager Alistair Hogg tweeted the news yesterday, adding: We have listened to feedback and trust this makes it easier for fans to track their team’s log progress throughout the SuperRugby season. In the past teams were awarded four points for each of their two bye weekends – making for a highly confusing log.- Sport24.