Sharks v Lions - teams and prediction

03/07/2025 08:39 AM

PREVIEW: The Sharks will look to snatch another trophy out of the hands of a South African rival when they host the Lions at Kings Park on Saturday.

This rescheduled United Rugby Championship Round One encounter in Durban is also a SA Shield decider.

The equation is simple.

If the Sharks win, they will be crowned 'SA champions'.

Victory for the Lions, or a draw, will see the Stormers - current leaders - be crowned Shield holders.

Sharks coach John Plumtree said winning the Shield and being crowned the 'best team in SA' would mean a lot to the Durban-based franchise.

"Not often in life do you get second chances," he said of the rematch coming just a week after last week's demoralising loss at Ellis Park.

"We do get a second chance and if we take that [the Shield] it will be great.

"However, we have 80 minutes to get through against a side that plays with a lot of confidence and belief in what they do.

"They are not scared of us from any distance. We will have to 'earn' it [the win] and we were not in the right [mental] space last week."

"We have to be in the right space - mentally and physically - to hold that Shield up, otherwise the Stormers will do it."

(Article continues below the Plumtree preview ...)

Plumtree, as has been the theme all week, reiterated the team's displeasure with their 'implosion' and allround 'poor display' in the 14-38 loss to the enigmatic Lions at Ellis Park last week.

He made it clear he is expecting 'response' - a backlash of some kind.

"It wasn't the fact that we lost, but how we lost," the Sharks coach said, adding: "We accept losing, it is [about] what type of effort goes into the performance.

"If the Lions didn't capture our attention last week, they have certainly captured our attention this week."

The Sharks coach said the Lions were also tactically more astute and they will have to ensure they don't lose the territory game again.

With the hot and humid conditions of Durban, there will be some tweaks to their approach.

"We are still in summer mode here in Durban," he said, adding: "You might find there is a bit more kicking than you normally see."

He said that their key focus this week was to 'to get our game going', which will make them a dangerous side.

"Our kicking game wasn't good enough, our set piece didn't operate as well as we wanted to, our discipline wasn't good enough and our defence didn't operate at the standard we expected it to.

"There has been a big focus on our own game and our mindset."

In contrast, the Lions will look to deny the Sharks - as the latter did to them in the Currie Cup Final last year.

Beating the Sharks in the Tank will be a good measure of 'revenge'- not to mention that a 'W' will see the Johannesburg-based franchise climb back into the top eight (play-off places) for the first time since Round Six.

Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher said it is a 'tough' challenge to play teams back-to-back.

"You have to come up with new plans," he said, adding that they are expecting a backlash from the Sharks.

"We have to go into this game with renewed energy and a different mindset."

Loubscher said the conditions - from a summer flash-storm at altitude to the hot and humid conditions at the coast - will be the biggest factor.

"Our mindset will always be to stick to how we want to play," he said of the Lions' all-action, expansive game.

Flank Jarod Cairns, who starts in place of JC Pretorius who suffered a hamstring strain in training this week, said they are mentally prepared for the change in conditions.

He added that they 'love' a physical contest, even though their nature is to run with the ball.

"We play the game because we want to be physical, we want to show [exert] our dominance on the opposition," Cairns said.

"When we are physical, it allows us to play that expansive game."

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Prediction

Teams

Sharks: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 James Venter, 21 Nick Hatton, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Hakeem Kunene.

Lions: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Siba Qoma, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 WJ Steenkamp, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.

Date: Saturday, March 8
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 14.00 (12.00 GMT)
Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa), Sean Muller (South Africa)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

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