Challenge Cup, Round of 16: Connacht v Sharks, Dexcom stadium, Friday, 8pm – Live on Premier Sports
Eben Etzebeth makes his return to the match environment for Friday’s Challenge Cup knockout game against Connacht after serving his 12-game suspension for an eye-gouging incident in South Africa’s victory over Wales during the November Test series.
The 34-year-old secondrow is one of 12 changes to the side that beat Cardiff in King’s Park last weekend. Wing Makazole Mapimpi, flanker Vincent Tshituka and number eight and captain Nick Hatton remain from last week’s run-on team. The Sharks trained on Tuesday before arriving in Ireland on Wednesday.
Springbok props Ox Nche and Vincent Koch return to the frontrow, but head coach JP Pietersen has left a host of internationals behind in Durban, including Andre Esterhuizen, Siya Kolisi, Grant Williams and Bongi Mbonambi to highlight a few. Seven of last week’s bench are promoted to the starting line-up.
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“We’re excited for this opportunity,” said Hatton, “but we know it’s not an easy place to go play. We believe in our systems, and we also believe we have a good chance to do something special there. It is always tough against Connacht.”
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Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster welcomes back captain Cian Prendergast after a down week and his presence will help to mitigate the absence of Sean Jansen, who misses only his second game this season as he is given more time to recover from a calf issue.
Fullback and place-kicker Sam Gilbert returns after injury while Chay Mullins replaces Finn Treacy, who picked up a knock, on the left wing. Matthew Devine, fresh from a try-scoring cameo off the bench in Connacht’s URC win over Ospreys last weekend starts. Props Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and secondrow Joe Joyce are the other changes to the pack.
The matchday 23 includes two sets of brothers, with Niall Murray and John Devine named among the replacements, the latter being one of three academy graduate backs on the bench alongside scrumhalf Colm Reilly and Sean Naughton.
Lancaster described Friday’s game as “a change of focus for us”, but one which the westerners are looking forward to. “There’s always an edge to knockout rugby, especially against a South African side like the Sharks, who have X-factor quality across the pitch and a new and motivated coaching team.
“The support of the fans has played a big part in this winning run we’ve been on, so I’m sure we’ll see more of that brilliant support again as we aim to go deep in the competition.”
Connacht are coming off a five-game winning streak, so confidence should be high provided the focus and application are at the requisite levels.
The home side can’t be distracted by who is missing from the Sharks pool – they’ll test Connacht at the collision points of scrum, lineout and breakdown and in Edwill van der Merwe have a rocket on the wing – and instead will emphasise playing on top of their opponents on both sides of the ball.
The teams are barely recognisable from those that contested a URC match last November, one which Connacht won 44-17. This is a very good test physically, from an individual and team perspective, for Lancaster’s side and a primary challenge they must pass to continue on in the tournament.
CONNACHT: S Gilbert; S Jennings, C Forde, B Aki, C Mullins; J Ioane; M Devine; B Bohan, D Heffernan, S Illo; J Joyce, D Murray; J Murphy, S Hurley-Langton, C Prendergast (capt). Replacements: D Tierney-Martin, P Dooley, F Bealham; N Murray, P Boyle, C Reilly, S Naughton, J Devine.
SHARKS: H Kunene; E van der Merwe, Le-Roux Malan, M Potgieter, M Mapimpi; J Smith, R Braude; O Nche, E Swart, V Koch; E Etzebeth, D Slabbert; T Mavesere, J Potgieter, N Hatton (capt). Replacements: E Bester, L-Marvin Mazibuko, M Mdanda, C Rahl, V Tshituka, C Everson, S Masuku, E Hooker.
Referee: S Grove-White (SCO).
