Sharks v Zebre Parma - Teams and Prediction
ROUND SEVEN RESCHEDULED: The Sharks will look to keep their unbeaten home record intact this season when they welcome Zebre Parma to Kings Park on Saturday.
The South Africans will want to deliver another quality performance and secure a fourth consecutive victory.
With the Durbanites trailing Edinburgh and the Glasgow Warriors by eight points, even a bonus-point win won’t influence their position on the log, but it would give them a handy nudge in reducing the gap to fifth position regardless of the result of the clash between the Scottish clubs in Glasgow on Friday.
Zebre Parma, however, are coming off a heavy 7-55 defeat against the Stormers last week and have yet to win a match this season, which will fuel their motivation to try to create an upset in the humidity of Durban.
“They [Zebre] are not a bad side as the scoreline suggested,” Sharks coach Sean Everitt admitted when asked about the Italian team’s form.
“A couple of weeks ago they ran Ospreys close and lost narrowly to them.
“They have a good maul, a good two-sided attack and attack from both sides of the ruck.
“It is a team that are unpredictable and we have to be accurate in our execution.
He added: “For us, it is not just about the log points it is about the performance.”
The Sharks team for Saturday’s match show a number of rotational changes from the side that beat Scarlets last week, with injured Springbok prop Retshegofaditswe ‘Ox’ Nché replaced by Ntuthuko Mchunu in the front row.
Everitt has also made two changes to the backline, with Ben Tapuai named at outside centre in place of Jeremy Ward, and Grant Williams replacing Jaden Hendrikse at scrumhalf.
“The two No.9s are on rotation and I would like to give both of them an equal opportunity, ” Everitt said.
“And on top of that Williams came off the bench last week and did really well so he deserves a start.
“But at the same time you could see it as more of a rotation.”
When asked about the plan at flyhalf, Everit said: “Joaquin Diaz Bonilla was supposed to play in the Currie Cup but he picked up food poisoning and could not play.
“While Boeta Chamberlain had two starts in the Currie Cup and we would really like to see what he can do in the URC.”
Prediction
@rugby365com: Sharks by 25 points.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Jeremy Ward
Zebre: 15 Michelangelo Biondelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Timothy O’Malley, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Antonio Rizzi, 9 Nicolò Casilio, 8 Renato Giammarioli (captain), 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Liam Mitchell, 4 Potu Junior Leavasa, 3 Ion Neculai, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Juan Pitinari, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Maxime Mbandà, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Giulio Bisegni
Date: Saturday, March 19
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 18:30 (17.30 Italy time; 16.30 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Morne Ferreira
TMO: Quinton Immelman
#WATCH as seasoned Bulls and Springbok back Lionel Mapoe explains why playing three games in a week is going to become the norm for South Africans. #URC #CurrieCup https://t.co/srjymdOFIi
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) March 18, 2022
