After two good wins in the SA Rugby Under 20 Championship, the Cell C Sharks u/20s will be looking to grow their performance when they take on the EP Elephants at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Friday.
After two excellent results, the Cell C Sharks are riding a wave of confidence and will look to improve further when they host the Elephants in Durban.
Commenting on his team’s 47-21 win over Free State u/20s last week, Cell C Sharks u/20s head coach Mike Vowles said that despite the result, there was a mix of emotions afterwards.
“We were obviously very pleased with the result against the Cheetahs last week, it’s never easy going to Bloemfontein, so walking away with a bonus point and seven tries was quite satisfying, although I must say, it wasn’t easy. But we set ourselves high standards and that performance wasn’t good enough. We didn’t play particularly well in the first 60, so we were quite frustrated with the performance and we certainly didn’t live up to expectations after what we achieved against the Lions.
“After 80 minutes, we were more disappointed that we didn’t play well, but we’ll take the win nevertheless.”
Eastern Province comes into this coastal derby still searching for their first win in the competition, having lost all four of their previous matches and conceding an average of nearly 60 points per game.
This provides the Cell C Sharks with an opportunity to really express themselves and develop further.
“EP is going to be an interesting challenge because we’re not quite sure what they’re going to bring,” said Vowles. “When you come up against teams like them, you just have to focus on your own processes and make sure you can control your performance.
“We’ve had a big drive towards accuracy and concentrating on getting our systems right because we want to put in a proper performance after the Cheetahs’ game to build confidence and do right by ourselves.”
In commenting on changes to the team he explained that “There are some exciting players coming in and it is great that we can give members of our extended squad an opportunity. We’re quite keen to see what they have and I’m sure they will bring renewed energy to the game and hopefully we can put in a total performance for 80 minutes.”
Cell C Sharks u/20: 1. Phatu Ganyane, 2. Marnus Winter, 3. Nash Mhere, 4. Coetzee le Roux, 5. Andrew Beyrooti, 6. Damon Royle, 7. Enos Ndiao, 8. Nick Hatton, 9. Bradley Davids, 10. Jean Smith, 11. Siviwe Zondani, 12. Brandon Wilkie (c), 13. Ethan Hooker, 14. Curwin Gertse, 15. Hakeem Kunene. Replacements: 16. Jacques Marais, 17. Braam Reyneke, 18. Dian Heunis, 19. Corne Rahl, 20. Luca Ribbens, 21. Josh Miller, 22. Banie Britz, 23. Taurin Craze.