VIDEO: Look who is back in the Shark Tank!
SPOTLIGHT: Two familiar faces could be seen during the Sharks’ training sessions ahead of their United Rugby Championship Round Five clash against Connacht in Durban on Saturday.
Springboks Makazole Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am were both in the thick of things as the Sharks look to restore some pride after losing all four of their URC matches so far.
#SHAvCon preps are underway#FearTheFin pic.twitter.com/FHGVKkkd0j
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Mapimpi has been out of action since he fractured his cheekbone in South Africa’s World Cup pool match against Tonga last month.
Am was eventually called up to replace the wing in the Bok squad, but he did not feature for the Boks in the tournament.
The outside centre did not make the original squad after he suffered a knee injury in a warm-up match against Argentina in August.
All the Springboks that were involved in the World Cup were given a compulsorily three-week post-World Cup break.
However, it’s been a while since Mapimpi and Am saw any action.
Besides Bong Mbonambi and Vincent Koch, who are both out with long-term injuries, Sharks coach John Plumtree said the rest of the World Cup-winning Boks are “good to go”.
“Eben [Etzebeth] is looking forward to it,” Plumtree told reporters earlier this week.
“I have left them alone.
“It was really important that they didn’t get a phone call from me.
“They don’t want to hear from me yet, but next week they will be hearing from me.
“We will get them back into training and see where they are at individually.”
He added: “We will assess them and that will determine how we integrate them.”
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