Issuu

MATCH PREVIEW

‘WE’RE NOT GETTING AHEAD OF OURSELVES’

The Hollywoodbets Sharks gave their fans 45 fantastic reasons to celebrate last Saturday with their wonderful win against Munster. However, JP Pietersen insists that the job is far from done, with his side’s next objective to maintain their magnificent momentum against Cardiff tonight

The past weekend’s big Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter between the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Munster might not have been as dramatic as last year’s quarter-final clash, which culminated in the heart-stopping penalty shootout.

However, this time around, JP Pietersen’s side produced a workmanlike performance of note to achieve a comprehensive 45-0 bonus-point victory over the Irish to keep their hopes of reaching the playoffs alive. The most impressive aspect of the crucial win was that Munster, VURC champion three years ago, was denied any scoring opportunities.

“To win 45-0 against a very good Munster side, who have such a proud history… I will cherish this moment for the rest of my life,” Pietersen enthused afterwards.

“If you compare this to the Loftus (Versfeld) game, it’s like day and night.”

The Hollywoodbets Sharks lost 12-41 to

the Bulls in Pretoria at the end of February.

“I challenged the players on effort, and I challenged them to be more physical. One must give credit to Joey (Mongalo); he put in hours and hours with the players and is a very good defence coach.

“You could see the boys were out on their feet, and when the bench came on they also showed a lot of hunger; they wanted to prove a point… And not conceding a try in a VURC game, that is special.”

Pietersen was quick, nevertheless, to point out that the Hollywoodbets Sharks still have a ton of work left with a view to reaching the top eight in the competition and thereby qualifying for the playoffs.

As things stand, the Durban-based outfit is lying 11th on the table, but with only six championship points separating them from the Bulls, who are eighth at the moment.

“I’m not getting ahead of myself with this win against Munster,” Pietersen said.

“We’re still way off from the top eight, but if you look at this performance, it doesn’t look like a team that should be languishing in the bottom half of the table.

“We have Cardiff tonight, which is a quick turnaround for us, and therefore still have a huge task to get into the top eight.”

The Hollywoodbets Sharks will take massive confidence from the fact that they are playing at home, in the Shark Tank. They have won their last four VURC matches at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on the trot, while their only loss across the last seven home matches was by a solitary point (2223) against the Lions in February.

Cardiff arrived in Durban this week on the back of a punishing 7-41 defeat at the hands of the Bulls in Pretoria. However, as history shows, the Welsh outfit, who are currently occupying sixth spot on the standings, should not be underestimated.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks and Cardiff have met on four occasions in the VURC, with the Durbanites’ only victory being the 42-22 win in the most recent encounter at Arms Park in January 2025. Cardiff have visited Hollywoodbets Kings Park three times, winning on each occasion.

"STILL HAVE A HUGE TASK TO GET INTO THE TOP EIGHT...."

The Hollywoodbets Sharks, though, are intent on leaving nothing to chance, or history for that matter, and another industrious performance like that against Munster should see the men in black graft their way up the VURC ladder, before heading off to Ireland for their EPCR Challenge Cup date

WORDS: ALBERT HEENOP

SMART OPERATOR

One of the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ stars, and try-scorers, in the fine 45-0 win against Munster, Emile van Heerden is, like his Bok dad, Fritz van Heerden, turning out to be a supreme lineout operator. The 25-year-old lock is certainly coming of age following a series of injury setbacks…

Apart from being one of the most underrated Springboks of his era, who represented South Africa in 14 tests from 1994 to 1999, Fritz van Heerden became a Leicester legend in 67 matches for the Tigers, including their Premiershipwinning campaign of 1999.

Van Heerden Sr. perfectly complemented the robust play of England’s RWC-winning captain, Martin Johnson, with his athleticism, and is considered by Leicester as a pioneer when it comes to contesting opposition lineout throws.

“Fritz did a fantastic job as a second row at Leicester,” Johnson told me. “He was a very, very smart lineout operator, a fantastic player and a guy you could rely on…”

The same trademarks characterise Emile van Heerden’s play for the Hollywoodbets Sharks at present, and he acknowledges that his father still plays an instrumental role in his burgeoning career without placing unnecessary pressure on him.

“I can always rely on Dad for an objective opinion,” Van Heerden Jr. says. “Although we enjoy a great relationship, there have been some tough conversations occasionally, but they come from a place of love.

“I still phone him to this day for his thoughts on the strong points and work-ons following a game.”

Van Heerden has been entrusted with calling the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ lineouts in the absence of Eben Etzebeth, and winning lineout ball is certainly one of his strengths at the moment.

“We have focused a lot on our lineout play, and credit goes to the coaches and the other jumpers, like Jason (Jenkins) and Vince (Tshituka), as well as the lifters,” Van Heerden says.

“Calling the lineouts comes with a certain responsibility, but playing with such quality players at the Hollywoodbets Sharks certainly makes the job much easier. The experience of a guy like Eben, of course, helps us to read and

to defend lineouts, while Coach Warren (Whiteley) is really good, too, in preparing us.”

According to Van Heerden, who crashed over for the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ bonus-point try against Munster, the boys will take a lot of confidence from that convincing win as they set their sights on the new challenge presented by Cardiff.

“As a lock, you don’t get to score tries that often,” he chuckles. “I guess I was just in the right place at the right time; the team did all the hard work.

“Our goal is to end in the top eight, but we are taking it one weekend at a time. We

need to focus on the game in hand, hopefully get the necessary points, and then focus on the next game.

“The log shows that Cardiff is currently in the top half. They are a quality team, although they had a tough game against the Bulls, and we expect them to gear up for tonight.”

Personally, the 2.00 m beanpole is fizzing to continue his fabulous form of late.

“My career took a different path, in terms of stuff that was not in my control, mostly injuries. Over the past three seasons niggles kept me out, but this season I’ve managed to look after my body, stay on the field and get a good run of game time.”

HOLLYWOODBETS SHARKS PLAYER PROFILES HOLLYWOODBETS

04/05/1989

1.78m

TSHITUKA NICK HATTON

10/11/1998 HEIGHT: 1.95m BORN: 17/01/2003 HEIGHT: 1.91m WEIGHT: 107KG WEIGHT: 103KG

HOOKER BORN: 20/01/2003 HEIGHT: 1.93 m WEIGHT: 100

BRADLEY DAVIDS BORN: 30/07/2000 HEIGHT: 1.75m WEIGHT: 79KG

BORN: 03/04/1997 HEIGHT: 1.81 m WEIGHT: 82KG

SWART OX NCHE

BORN: 20/10/2000 HEIGHT: 1.86 m BORN: 23/07/1995 HEIGHT: 1.76 m

BORN: 31/08/2004 HEIGHT: 1.86 m BORN: 05/05/2003 HEIGHT: 1.90 m BORN: 18/01/2000 HEIGHT: 1.68m WEIGHT: 110KG WEIGHT: 110 kg WEIGHT: 82KG YAW PENXE

GILIOMEE BORN: 15/05/2006 HEIGHT: 1.70 m WEIGHT: 81KG

CORNE RAHL JANNES POTGIETER ROSS BRAUDE

1.91

HOLLYWOODBETS SHARKS

LUAN GILIOMEE

YAW PENXE

ETHAN HOOKER

ANDRE ESTERHUIZEN (C)

MAKAZOLE MAPIMPI

JORDAN HENDRIKSE

BRADLEY DAVIDS

NICK HATTON

VINCENT TSHITUKA

PHEPSI BUTHELEZI

EMILE VAN HEERDEN

JASON JENKINS

HANRO JACOBS

FEZ MBATHA

CARDIFF RUGBY

IOAN LLOYD

MASON GRADY

HARRI MILLARD

BEN THOMAS

IWAN STEPHENS

CALLUM SHEEDY

JOHAN MULDER

TAULUPE FALETAU

DAN THOMAS

JAMES BOTHAM

RORY THORNTON

JOSH MCNALLY

KEIRON ASSIRATTI

LIAM BELCHER

PHATU GANYANE

COREY DOMACHOWSKI

JP PIETERSEN

MANAGER

TREVOR BARNES HEAD COACH

EDUAN SWART OX NCHE

VINCENT KOCH

CORNE RAHL

JANNES POTGIETER

ROSS BRAUDE

JEAN SMITH LE ROUX MALAN

KICK OFF 19H00

REFEREE

GIANLUCA GNECCHI

DAFYDD HUGHES

DANNY SOUTHWORTH

JAVAN SEBASTIAN

ALUN LAWRENCE

TAINE BASHAM

ELLIS BEVAN

RORY JENNINGS

ELIJAH EVANS HEAD COACH CORNIEL VAN ZYL

ASSISTANT REFEREES

MORNE FERREIRA, JONATHAN LOTTERING TMO

MARIUS VAN DER WESTHUIZEN

MANAGER

CARDIFF RUGBY PLAYER PROFILES

19/09/1996 HEIGHT: 1.83m WEIGHT: 118 kg

BORN: 21/08/1990 HEIGHT: 2.04 m WEIGHT: 126 kg

BORN: 06/08/1999 HEIGHT: 1.55 m WEIGHT:

CARDIFF RUGBY PLAYER PROFILES

BORN: 07/08/1996 HEIGHT: 1.56 m WEIGHT: 93 kg

BORN: 08/01/1996 HEIGHT: 1.55 m

BORN: 29/03/2002 HEIGHT: 1.98 m WEIGHT: 110 kg

BORN: 04/05/1999 HEIGHT: 1.83 m

BORN: 05/04/2001 HEIGHT:1.56 m

BORN: 27/09/1994 HEIGHT: 1.55 m

BORN: 02/11/1999 HEIGHT: 1.83 m

BORN: 15/09/1998 HEIGHT: 1.92 m WEIGHT: 106 kg WEIGHT: 112 kg

BORN: 24/12/1995 HEIGHT: 1.56 m

BORN: 05/07/2005 HEIGHT: 1.89 m WEIGHT: 91 kg

BORN: 10/03/2000 HEIGHT: 1.56 m

WEIGHT: 89 kg

ASSIRATTI

JOHAN MULDER COREY DOMACHOWSKI

JOSH MCNALLY

DAN THOMAS

TAINE BASHAM

ALUN LAWRENCE

MASON GRADY

HARRI MILLARD

IOAN LLOYD

DANNY SOUTHWORTH

DAFYDD HUGHES

JAVAN SEBASTIAN RORY JENNINGS

ELLIS BEVAN

MAJOR MATCHUP ESTERHUIZEN VS THOMAS

Aptly nicknamed “André the Giant” and “Agent of Chaos”, André Esterhuizen has been in the most ferocious form of his career over the past year - both for the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Springboks.

Having evolved into a hybrid role for South Africa, which sees him switching between his normal position of inside centre and flanker, the 31-year-old’s lethal combination of power and panache has created havoc on both the international and VURC stages. Not only has he boosted his test cap tally to 29, but he also thrilled audiences around the globe with marauding tries against the Wallabies, All Blacks and France, amongst others.

At club level, Esterhuizen has embraced the captaincy role at the Hollywoodbets Sharks, leading in rampant fashion from the front.

At 1.83 m and 91 kg, Ben Thomas is significantly smaller in stature than his Hollywoodbets Sharks’ counterpart, André Esterhuizen (1.94 m, 124 kg), yet is a creative and versatile inside back in his own right.

With 18 test caps for Wales under his belt, the 27-year-old made his PRO14 debut in 2019 and scooped Cardiff’s Best Newcomer award at the end of the 2018/19 season. Equally adept at playing centre, flyhalf and fullback, Thomas’ international debut followed in 2021 against Canada, and he scored his first test try against the Wallabies in 2024.

A member of Wales’ squad in the recent Six Nations, Thomas will be a key figure for Cardiff tonight but faces a mammoth challenge against “André the Giant”.

WORKMANLIKE 'N WONDERFUL FACTS, STATS & TRIVIA

On the face of it, the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ superb 45-0 win, one of the Durban-based side’s finest performances to date in the VURC, might appear like a walk in the park. Underneath the thrill of their eventual victory, however, it was a highly industrious performance by the men in black, as the stats indicate…

To be sure, the Hollywoodbets Sharks worked incredibly hard for every single one of the 45 points they amassed against the Irish giants, as well as the seven tries with which they delighted the Shark Tank faithful. Not to mention the fact that they managed to keep the 2022/23 VURC champions scoreless…

Did you know:

* Interestingly, the Hollywoodbets Sharks had only 52% possession, as well as territory, to work with.

* They nevertheless managed to gain 314 metres, as opposed to Munster’s 236, and made five clean breaks and beat 22 defenders.

* The Hollywoodbets Sharks made 125 tackles, one more than Munster, at a tackle success rate of 74%.

* Significantly, the home side kicked 949 metres, compared to Munster’s 575, and retained 10 kicks, while the opposition could not retain a single kick.

* The Hollywoodbets Sharks enjoyed 93% lineout success, to Munster’s 40%, and stole three balls on the opposition throw.

* The Durban-based side was particularly ruthless at scrum time, forcing no fewer than seven scrum penalties.