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The Super Rugby record 'The Beast' is about to break and the fellow Bok he's taking it from

Tendai Mtawarira

Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira has been hailed as a rugby legend as he prepares to equal Adriaan Strauss’ record as the most capped South African Super Rugby player.

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Mtawarira will make his 156th appearance in the competition against the Bulls at Kings Park but he is still some way behind retired Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett who holds the overall record with 202 matches for the nine-time champions.

Sharks coach Robert du Preez is acutely aware of how much the Sharks depend on the loosehead prop whose nickname is chanted by Kings Park crowd every time he touches the ball. Beast is now 33-years-old and has won 107 Springbok caps and Du Preez spoke for a nation when he said: “When you speak about Beast‚ you need a long time to talk about him. It’s not a cliché but he’s a true legend of the game and he’s been immense for us this year with his leadership on and off the field.”

Strauss played for the Cheetahs and then the Bulls and was a test front row colleague of Mtawarira’s but the prop has remained with the Sharks throughout his career which started in 2007. The problem facing Mtawarira and his team mates in trying to register a win to mark the prop’s achievement is their dreadful record against the Bulls who have veteran hooker Schalk Brits in their front row.

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The Bulls beat the Sharks 37-14 earlier this month in Pretoria and that extended their recent domination over their fellow South Africans. In the last eight matches between teams, the Bulls have seven wins and a draw which is a record of success going back to 2014.

Sharks midfield options have been limited after centre Marius Louw was suspended by a Sanzaar Foul Play Committee for three weeks to join fellow centre, Jeremy Ward in the stands. Ward was given a five-week suspension for a reckless and dangerous tackle in the match against the Bulls in Pretoria and Louw was penalised for the same offence on a Rebels player at the weekend.

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Hellhound 15 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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