SIYA Masuku slots in at No 12 for the Sharks shift focus to Edinburgh.
Image: Backpagepix
Sharks coach JP Pietersen was a picture of diplomacy when he answered questions from the media regarding the controversies from last week’s defeat to the Ospreys — the Ethan Hooker late tackle and the uncontested scrums.
Pietersen is in Edinburgh where his team end their United Rugby Championship tour with a match against the Scottish team coached by one of Pietersen’s predecessors, Sean Everitt, and assisted by former Sharks scrumhalf Scott Mathie, who next season will be Pietersen’s attack coach.
Pietersen confirmed the bad news about Hooker’s dislocated shoulder.
“He’s seen the surgeon, but I can’t give an exact timeline of how long he will be out for,” Pietersen said. “He’ll probably go for surgery this week, and then we’ll know more once they’ve opened up the shoulder.”
Typically, this type of injury requires up to four months of rehabilitation, putting Hooker in serious doubt for a role in the Springboks’ Nations Cup matches in July.
Last Saturday night, Pietersen’s management team submitted a report to the match citing commissioner but were told that the ruling was “no foul play” by Ospreys wing Luke Morgan.
“We had a conversation with the head of referees,” Pietersen said. “It is what it is. It’s out of my control. It’s for the referees to decide.”
The unfairness of the late tackle is one thing, another is the loss of one of the best Sharks attackers for Friday’s match. And this has been compounded by the injuries in the Ospreys game suffered by centres Le Roux Malan and Jurenzo Julius, resulting in the extreme action of moving flyhalf Siya Masuku to inside centre and pushing Andre Esterhuizen out to 13.
The last quarter of the Ospreys game collapsed into farce when the Welsh club claimed they had no more fit props, forcing the scrums to be uncontested. At the end of the match, a fuming Pietersen had to choose his words carefully. He said,
“To be honest, that is a question mark. We don’t know whether there were injuries or the Ospreys were taking the contest away from us.”
But on Thursday, Pietersen was more measured: “We had a review meeting with the URC. It’s always a confidential discussion, but we got clarity on what happened.
“They investigated it and gave us feedback. We asked our questions, we got answers, and now we move on.”
Pietesen has kept his starting pack of forwards intact for the Scarlets game, meaning Bok props Ox Nche and Vincent Koch will once again play off the bench a surprise to many.
“It is a short week (a Friday game) and I want to keep disruptions to a minimum. I have only made changes where necessary,” Pietersen explained.
Sharks: 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 12 Siya Masuku, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Manu Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Phatu Ganyane. Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Nick Hatton, 21 Siya Kolisi, 22 Bradley Davids, 23 Marnus Potgieter.