Champions Cup, Round Two - teams and predictions
FRIDAY PREVIEW: Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell is banking on the experience of his international stars to avoid his side being ‘French-fried’ on Friday.
The Sharks will look to make it two wins from two in the Champions Cup as they face off against Bordeaux-Bègles at the intimidating Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Makazola Mapimpi, Siyamthanda Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi all featured in the equally unnerving surrounds of Stade Vélodrome, in Marseilles, where the Springboks lost 26-30 in a Test against France last month.
That experience will, hopefully, help the Sharks cope with the hostile Bordeaux crowd this week.
Coming off their opening round (39-31) win over Harlequins last weekend, the Durban outfit would like to take another step closer to the play-offs in their first appearance in Europe’s premier competition.
The Sharks boss pointed to the short turnaround – from a Saturday game to a Friday game – that reduced their preparation time, combined with 27 hours of travelling from Durban to Bordeaux.
The loss of prop Retshegofaditswe Nché to a ban after a red card last week was offset by the return from a suspension of Thomas du Toit.
There is also the return from injury of Springbok superstar Lukhanyo Am, who will play off the bench.
Powell said they have analysed Bordeaux and based their game plan on the expected cold conditions – with temperatures expected to plummet to near sub 0°C.
“It is important for us to be able to adapt and we have done a bit of that this week,” he said in the vastly different conditions their will experience going from Durban’s humid 30°C to a freezing Bordeaux.
He said they won’t be throwing the baby out with the bath water, but rather just “tweaking: one or two things.
“The challenge is that it is the first time for a lot of players playing in France and that environment – where the crowd are really behind the team,” he told @rugby365com.
“We will rely on the international players – like Siyamthanda [Kolisi] and Eben [Etzebeth], who played in France, in Marseille last month in similar conditions and an atmosphere.”
Powell felt his team was moving in the right direction, but still need some improvement.
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“We will need to show better discipline and there are other areas of our game we would like to improve on.
“But the amazing thing about this team is that all the individuals are making a step up and doing what we expect of them.”
One of the players in the Bordeaux side the Sharks will be very familiar with is wing Madosh Tambwe, who was with the Sharks in 2020 – before his move to the Bulls and from there to France.
“I was looking forward to this happening,” Tambwe said about the prospect of fronting up to the Sharks.
“There are a few players I played with when I was at the Sharks,” he said in an interview on the Bordeaux website.
“So obviously playing against the Sharks will be a good time for me.
“The Sharks have a great team.
“They have about 11 current players with the Springboks, so we will have to be careful.
“We have to draw our strength from the fact that we play at home in Chaban.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game!”
* In the other Friday game Leinster hosts Gloucester, with both sides looking to maintain winning starts to their Pool A campaigns.
Last week Leinster trounced Racing 92 42-10 on the road, and Gloucester edged Bordeaux-Bègles 22-17 at home.
The two sides have met only twice before, with the home side winning on each occasion: Leinster won 37-20 in Dublin and Gloucester 19-13 at Kingsholm in the 2006/07 pool stage.
Leinster’s Ireland-capped loose forward Will Connors spoke about the threat the visitors pose.
“They have a really proud history that they’re looking to protect, and they want to have as much success as we do,” Connors said.
“They’re going to be a huge challenge to us.”
Gloucester replacement Alex Craig said the home team has talent right across the board.
“It is a team full of Ireland internationals, stardust players really,” Craig said.
“It’ll be a massive challenge for us as a squad.
“We’ve got to go into every game trying to win it.
“I think for us, coming back into the competition, it’ll be a big challenge.
“But we’ve got a lot of faith in the squad, and we know when we get things right, we can beat anyone, especially at home, we back ourselves.”
All the teams and predictions for Friday, December 16, follow below …
Leinster v Gloucester
(RDS Arena, Dublin – Kick-off: 20.00; 20.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Leinster by 22 points
Teams
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose (captain), 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Cian Healy, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Johnny Sexton, 23 Jordan Larmour.
Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Alex Hearle, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jacob Morris, 10 George Barton, 9 Ben Meehan (captain), 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Jack Clement, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Harry Elrington.
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Harry Taylor, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Seb Atkinson, 23 Kyle Moyle.
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant referees: Jérémy Rozier (France), Adrien Descottes (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)
Bordeaux-Bègles v Sharks
(Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux – Kick-off: 21.00; 22.00 SA time; 20.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bordeaux-Bègles by five points
Teams
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Geoffrey Cros, 13 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Jules Gimbert, 8 Caleb Timu, 7 Antoine Miquel, 6 Renato Giammarioli, 5 Jandré Marais (captain), 4 Cyril Cazeaux, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Lekso Kaulashvili.
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Ben Tameifuna, 18 Christopher Vaotoa, 19 Alban Roussel, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Santiago Cordero, 22 Matéo Garcia, 23 Rémi Lamerat.
Sharks: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazola Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phendulani Buthelezi 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Lukhanyo Am.
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales (England), James Clarke (England)
TMO: Dean Richards (England)
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* Additional reporting by @ChampionsCup
