The Hollywoodbets Sharks will be desperate to change their fortunes when they take on Zebre Parma on Friday at 19:30 (SA Time). They languish at the bottom of the log and are yet to open their account this season, and John Plumtree’s team will know it won’t be easy in Italy.
Although Zebre Parma are still searching for that elusive first victory of the season, they have secured a try-scoring bonus point in their last four matches. The Italian club’s 15 tries are also the second most so far this season, only behind the Vodacom Bulls’ 20.
However, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will go into the clash with some confidence, having won all four their previous matches against Italian opponents, including a 42-37 victory on their only previous visit to Parma in September 2022.
Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach John Plumtree has been fortunate to be able to mostly retain the same starting line-up and looking to build continuity, making just two changes.
George Cronje starts at eighthman, swapping jerseys with last week’s incumbent Sikhumbuzo Notshe, while Boeta Chamberlain has come into the starting line-up in place of Curwin Bosch.
It is all about ending the tour on a high and these young men will certainly be up for the challenge.
Speaking ahead of the game, Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach John Plumtree admitted that the team are facing pressure to strike back this weekend as they look to end their month-long tour off on a high, and return to Durban with some confidence and vital log points.
“The two weeks in Ireland was always going to be a tough assignment for this young team I’ve got here, and we were pretty disappointed with our performance against Ospreys last week, which makes this one [against Zebre] a real must-win for us,” Plumtree admitted
“We have to ensure that we enforce our game on them, they like to play with the ball, they like to score tries from deep, however, they do give opportunities to the opposition attack, so it’s important that we attack well.
“Hopefully we build some pressure on attack and be able to put them under a bit of pressure.”
Zebre Parma head coach Fabio Roselli said: "The match with Hollywoodbets Sharks will be another important test for our physicality and conquest. We will reunite our captain and some important players who will add experience to the team. We also expect more consistency in the defensive phase. The return of Tiff Eden allows us to try a set-up already experimented several times last season, with Geronimo Prisciantelli at fullback. We are happy to have Morisi available, with the possibility of seeing him make his debut with Zebre".
Teams:
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 2 Dylan Richardson, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 4 Corne’ Rahl, 5 Emile van Heerden, 6 James Venter, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 8 George Cronje, 9 Cameron Wright, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Francois Venter (c), 13 Werner Kok, 14 Aphelele Fassi. Replacements: 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Marnus Potgieter.
Zebre Parma: 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Luca Bigi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 4 David Sisi, 5 Leonard Krumov, 6 Luca Andreani, 7 Lacopo Bianchi, 8 Giovanni Licata (c), 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 10 Tiff Eden, 11 Simone Gesi, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 13 Fetuli Paea, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli. Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Taina Fox-Matamua.
