Grant Williams Grant Williams has shown that he can inject a necessary spark into the Sharks attack from the start. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
The Sharks players have had a roasting from their fans after a lacklustre performance against Edinburgh last week, but there will be big smiles on the dials of at least two of them.
Brothers Vincent and Emmanuel Tshituka, who were born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have reportedly received their South African ID cards.
This frees them up for possible selection for the Springboks.
According to Afrikaans weekend newspaper Rapport, the Tshitukas’ long wait for full South African citizenship, passports and ID cards is over.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has had his eye on the two flankers for some time, but told them he could not invite them to Bok alignment camps until their nationality issues had been fully resolved.
Erasmus wanted the siblings to be involved in the March alignment camp in Cape Town, but left them out when they said they were still waiting for their IDs.
Vincent, 26, is the elder brother and is currently ahead of Emmanuel (nicknamed Manu) in the loose-forward pecking order at the Sharks.
But there is not much in it – they are both exceptional players and have similar physical dimensions (just under 2m tall and around 110kg).
Vincent started at blindside flank last week in the 18-17 victory over Edinburgh, and was one of the better Sharks on the day, while Manu was not part of the match-day squad.
For this Saturday’s match against Ulster in Belfast (8.35pm kick-off), coach John Plumtree is unlikely to make too many changes to his forwards as he looks to grow consistency in selection over the last three league games and likely quarter-final in the United Rugby Championship.
But having said that, the players will understand that if they fail to deliver for a second match in a row, Plumtree will not be shy to eject non-performers from the gritty win at the Hive Stadium last weekend.
“There was a little bit of a spray at halftime, from the leaders as well,” Plumtree said afterwards.
“We got our act together in the second half.
“But still, for us, it’s a bit of a wake-up call. We know we have to be better than that if we want to go away with two wins (on tour).”
One area the coaching staff will have a good look at is the halfbacks.
The Hendrikse brothers, Jaden and Jordan, have been off the boil for a few matches now.
They were not at their best in the home loss to Leinster, and things did not turn around for them in Edinburgh.
In the second half last week, the introduction of Grant Williams at scrumhalf and Siya Masuku at flyhalf injected some life into the Sharks’ game.
At provincial and international level, coaches tend to favour Jaden to start.
He is a more measured tactician, and they unleash game-breaker Williams in the second half when the game loosens up.
There is sense in that, but when Williams starts matches, he has not disappointed.
He has shown that he is equally accomplished at starting and finishing.
Masuku has found himself on the outer for some time after having enjoyed a golden run last year that included a Player-of the-Match performance in the Sharks’ Challenge Cup final defeat of Gloucester.
There is no shortage of Sharks supporters who would like to see Williams and Masuku take the reins in Belfast on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Ulster will also be desperate to keep their URC playoffs alive after going down 41-17 to leaders Leinster in Dublin last Saturday.
The men from Belfast are 10th on the log on 37 points, three behind the eighth-placed Stormers.
