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Sharks name their team to take on the Brumbies

Lukhanyo Am and his Sharks team-mates celebrate the winning try at the Stormers last Saturday (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The Sharks side named to play the Brumbies in Saturday’s Super Rugby quarter-final shows just two changes to the team that defeated the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend.

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Aphelele Fassi has been ruled out of the match with a rotator cuff sprain on his right shoulder and his absence sees the welcome return of a fit-again Curwin Bosch who will operate at full-back. 

Juan Schoeman was not considered for selection last week due to a bout of flu and returns to the bench as loosehead cover. 

Selection continuity, particularly after a successful outing the previous week, always stands a team in good stead.

Add to that this year’s away record that has shown the Sharks to be effective and triumphant away from home and the signs bode well for a positive outing against the Australian Conference winners who have enjoyed a very good 2019 campaign.

Sharks captain Louis Schreuder, speaking from the team’s base in Coogee in Sydney ahead of a three-hour bus ride to Canberra, said that the team is focused and ready for the clash against the Brumbies.

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“The game against the Stormers is behind us and our focus is on the Brumbies. Everyone is excited and looking forward to the challenge.”

“We haven’t faced them this year, they’re one of the teams we missed, they’re the log leaders in the Australian Conference so they’re not in the quarter-finals by chance,” he said.

“They’re a physical, well-organised team with a good set-piece and kicking game so we’re going to have to be well-prepared for that.”

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SHARKS (v Brumbies, Saturday): C Bosch; S Nkosi, L Am, A Esterhuizen, M Mapimpi; R du Preez, L Schreuder (capt); M Majola, K van Vuuren, C Oosthuizen, R van Heerden, H Andrews, J Vermeulen, T Paul, D du Preez. Reps: C Collopy, J Schoeman, T du Toit, G Koegelenberg, L Stringer, C Wright, J Ward, R Smith. 

WATCH: Rugby League convert Tom Wright talks about his first Super Rugby play-off game, Saturday’s showdown versus the Sharks

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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