Sharks determined to keep Leinster winless in SA

The Hollywoodbets Sharks host Leinster in one of their biggest tests of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this season, looking to continue to make fortress Hollywoodbets Kings Park a tough place to visit.

Leinster arrive in Durban off the back of a last-gasp loss to the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria last week and the table-topping Irish giants will look to leave South African shores on a positive note.

The Sharks, unbeaten at home this campaign will have quite the opposite ambition of sending the visitors back to Ireland with a none-from-two record and continue to make their home ground a place to be feared.

Sharks head coach John Plumtree has largely stuck with last week’s side, making two personnel changes and two positional switches for this key game.

James Venter and Andre Esterhuizen will both wear starting jerseys after featuring off the bench last week, Venter replaces Phepsi Buthelezi, while Esterhuizen is part of a rejig of the backline which sees Ethan Hooker switch from centre to wing as Yaw Penxe takes over from the injured Henry Immelman at fullback.

Before the introduction of the four South African teams, one team dominated the competition between 2018 and 2021 and that was Leinster.

They won the tournament in all four years preceding South Africa’s entry and have continued to be a real force in the competition, which just adds to the hype that this game deservedly receives.

They went into the 2022 and 2023 knock-out stages as log winners and were third-placed last year, and back to the top this season, which just underlines how much they know about winning.

As an interesting aside, they have not won the competition again since that halcyon period and will have had that concern in the backs of their minds for some time now as Ireland’s most successful side.

What they face is a determined Sharks side, somewhat stung by a winning performance last week that wasn’t up to their usual high standard and there is every reason to believe that Leinster will face a backlash from the Durban side on Saturday night.

Hollywoodbets Sharks starting XV: 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi; 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse; 8 Siya Kolisi (capt), 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter; 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins; 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Corne’ Rahl, 20 Manu Tshituka, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Francois Venter.

The following players are not available for selection due to injury: Aphelele Fassi, Bryce Calvert, Dylan Richardson, Eben Etzebeth, Gerbrandt Grobler, Grant Williams, Hanro Jacobs, Henry Immelman, Jaco Williams, Khwezi Mona, Lukhanyo Am, Marnus Potgieter.

SATURDAY

Hollywoodbets Sharks v Leinster

Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban – KO 5.15pm IRE & UK/6.15pm ITA/7.15pm SA

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU, 9th league game)

AR 1: Christopher Allison (SARU) AR 2: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Live on: SuperSport, RTÉ, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv