The Sharks desperately need to win after three losses on the road when they end off against Zebre in Parma.
Follow the action live with up to the minute scores from Flashscore.
Zebre vs Sharks: LIVE scores
It’s been a difficult month for a young Hollywoodbets Sharks team, starting their campaign overseas and taking on two Irish powerhouses of rugby in the opening fortnight, before a trip to London to play Ospreys last week.
ALSO READ: Who are the most capped Springboks of all-time?
The average age of 23, underlines that this young side is still growing, and change does take time to adopt. A heavy injury toll that includes hooker Kerron van Vuuren, locks Gerbrandt Grobler, Reniel Hugo and Le Roux Roets, loose forward Vincent Tshituka, flyhalf Curwin Bosch and scrumhalf Francois Hougaard has also played a role.
Given this injury toll and the missing Springboks, this tour experience and the learnings from it, will hold this young team in good stead moving forward.
ALSO READ: Who are the tallest Springboks in history
Tomorrow evening, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will be looking to make it three from three against their Italian opponents. The inaugural season of VURC action delivered a 38-6 win for the Hollywoodbets Sharks at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, while the last edition in the 2022/23 season brought about a much closer result, Zebre going down 37-42 at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, the venue for Friday’s clash.
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.
ALSO READ: When will Springboks be available for the URC?
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.
ALSO READ: Sharks see Springboks added to their long injury list
Teams
Zebre: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Giovanni Licata (captain), 7 Lacopo Bianchi, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
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.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 George Cronje, 7 Phendulani Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
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.
Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Riccardo Angelucci (Italy) and Filippo Bertili (Italy)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)
Discussion about this post