The Sharks are banking on 19-year-old Vusi Moyo to provide another glimpse into the future when they wrap up their Vodacom URC campaign against Zebre at Kings Park.
Moyo, fresh from helping the Junior Springboks win the U20 Rugby Championship, earns his first start at flyhalf in the continued absence of injured Jordan Hendrikse.
Teenage sensation Zekhethelo Siyaya gave the Benetton defenders a lot of trouble when he started at flyhalf, but he’s had to shift back to fullback due to the injury to Edwill van der Merwe. Jaco Williams who started at fullback last Saturday, now takes over the No 14 jersey.
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“Looking for a flyhalf was always going to be the talk if Jordan [Hendrikse] isn’t available,” Pietersen said.
“If you look at last year, he was our frontline 10 and we came all the way to the semi-finals. He’s missed almost half of our games this season but it also gives an opportunity for other guys to put their hands up. Hopefully Vusi can put his hand up for us on Saturday.”
Pietersen said the challenge now is to build on last week’s dominant 46-7 win over Benetton.
“The question for us is always can we back up our last performance? That’s been our season. We haven’t been consistent with our performances, so the challenge to this group is to back up last week’s performance, this week.”
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The Sharks coach expects a stern test from a dangerous Zebre side.
“Zebre is a dangerous team on transition when the ball is loose. They can punish you when you make a mistake.
“It’s our last game as a group and some players are leaving, so we want to give them a good sendoff. Vusi’s making his debut so it gives us good motivation to put a good performance together and give our fans something to talk about going into the new season.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
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