Siya rested but Eben back to lead the Sharks

He’s not on the list of injured players so the absence of Siya Kolisi from the Hollywoodbets Sharks team to play the Scarlets in a round 18 Vodacom United Rugby Championship league match in Durban on Saturday must mean coach John Plumtree is resting him ahead of the playoffs.

Of the top Springboks in the Sharks squad, Kolisi and centre Andre Esterhuizen have probably had the most game-time. Someone who has not played much in the last few months but will back up after being cleared by the Sharks medical team following the knock that forced him from the field against the Ospreys last week is Eben Etzebeth, who will lead the side.

There was a lot of angst, and not just in Sharks country, when Etzebeth was helped from the field on a golf cart last Friday night, but fortunately it appears coach John Plumtree was right in his hopeful post-match prognosis - it was just a dead leg.

Etzebeth’s return to fitness is accompanied by the return to health of another regular first-choice Bok in Ox Nche, who missed out last weekend due to illness. He replaces Dian Bleuler in the starting team with Ntuthuko Mchunu continuing as the replacement loosehead prop.

In all there are four changes to the Sharks starting team, all of them at forward, with Kolisi being replaced at No 8 by Phepsi Buthelezi, Tino Mavesere in for James Venter in a move that looks geared towards getting the Zimbabwean match fit in case he’s needed in the knockouts, and Emile van Heerden returning to the second row engine room for Jason Jenkins.

Siya Masuku, who directed an improved and more controlled kicking game last week for the Sharks, continues in the No 10 jersey, with Jordan Hendrikse still listed as one of the injured players.

Another Bok backline player still among the injured is Lukhanyo Am, while scrumhalf Grant Williams is obviously still recovering from the neck injury that has kept him sidelined for some time. Bradley Davids continues as the scrumhalf backup to another Bok, Jaden Hendrikse.

The Sharks have already secured their coveted top-four finish, which guarantees home-ground advantage in the first match of the Finals Series (quarterfinal), but they can move from fourth to third if they beat the Scarlets and the currently third placed Glasgow Warriors lose to Leinster in the final league game of the 2024/2025 URC season in Dublin on Saturday night.

A fourth-placed finish would probably set up a derby quarterfinal with coastal rivals, the DHL Stormers, while a third placed finish will see the Sharks hosting Benetton or Munster.

Hollywoodbets Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Ethan Hooker, Jurenzo Julius, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Siya Masuku, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka, Tino Mavesere, Emile van Heerden, Eben Etzebeth (captain), Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements: Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Hanro Jacobs, Jason Jenkins, Nick Hatton, Bradley Davids, Francois Venter, Yaw Penxe