{"id":32110,"date":"2025-04-19T05:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T05:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/32110\/"},"modified":"2025-04-19T05:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T05:20:10","slug":"eben-etzebeth-starts-for-springboks-laden-sharks-against-edinburgh-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/32110\/","title":{"rendered":"Eben Etzebeth starts for Springboks-laden Sharks against Edinburgh : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth makes a timely return to lead the Sharks in their Round 15 United Rugby Championship (URC) away match against Edinburgh on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Etzebeth is back after a lengthy period out and is joined by fellow returnees Lukhanyo Am and Aphelele Fassi in the starting XV while Grant Williams is on the bench.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been six months since head coach John Plumtree was able to select his strongest possible side and these options are a plus for the team ahead of the URC<\/a> run-in.<\/p>\n

Boks return<\/p>\n

Currently the Sharks<\/a> sit fourth in the standings and will be determined to consolidate their position in the crucial top four spots, thus sealing a home play-off fixture.<\/p>\n

Also in the forward pack are Etzebeth<\/a>\u2018s fellow Springboks<\/a>, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch in the front-row, while Siya Kolisi is once again number eight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe squad is back to full strength for the first time since the game against Glasgow which is good, that was a long time ago, and hopefully we will keep all the bodies nice and healthy in the build-up to the finals,\u201d explained Plumtree ahead of the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had good preparation, although we haven\u2019t played for a couple of weeks, and we just want to have a good tour, try and set ourselves up for a home quarter and potentially a home semi if we win our next four games. But for now, our focus is to do well on this tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lions boss Andy Farrell confirms Johnny Sexton appointment as Ireland legend makes big call on coaching future<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

This side is going to have to pull out all the stops against the high-riding Edinburgh<\/a> side who secured a home Challenge Cup semi-final clash with Bath, after defeating the Bulls in last week\u2019s quarter-final.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdinburgh is going to be a tough game, they\u2019re in good form and their confidence will be really high, so we know it\u2019s going to be a tough match,\u201d Plumtree added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning VURC games away from home isn\u2019t easy and it certainly hasn\u2019t been easy for us as a team in the past, so it would be great if we have a good performance against Edinburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Scotland international back-row Ben Muncaster will return to the Edinburgh starting XV for the clash at Hive Stadium.<\/p>\n

The versatile back-row featured from the bench in the Challenge Cup quarter-final win against the Bulls and will start at openside flanker for his side\u2019s return to league action, with Hamish Watson rested.<\/p>\n

Muncaster is one of five changes made by head coach Sean Everitt.<\/p>\n

Props Pierre Schoeman and D\u2019arcy Rae start in place of Boan Venter and Javan Sebastian (concussion), while Scotland internationals Ali Price and Harry Paterson featuring in the backs, with Ben Vellacott (foot) injured and Darcy Graham rested.<\/p>\n

Paterson starts in the back-three alongside the returning Ross McCann and full-back Wes Goosen.<\/p>\n

In the midfield, inside centre James Lang partners Matt Currie for the fourth game in a row, while Price links up with fly-half Ross Thompson.<\/p>\n

Schoeman and Rae come into the front-row at loosehead and tighthead respectively, alongside Ewan Ashman at hooker, with Sam Skinner and captain Grant Gilchrist once again named at lock.<\/p>\n

Openside Muncaster joins a back-row of Jamie Ritchie (blindside) and Magnus Bradbury (number eight), the latter of whom picked up the Player of the Match award last time out.<\/p>\n

The teams<\/p>\n

Edinburgh:<\/b> 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Harry Paterson, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Ross McCann, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 D\u2019arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Mosese Tuipulotu<\/p>\n

Sharks:<\/b> 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 James Venter, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Jurenzo Julius<\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Hive Stadium
Kick-off:<\/b> 19:35 BST (20:30 SA, 18:35 GMT)
Referee:<\/b> Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Mike Adamson (SRU), Jonny Perriam (SRU)
TMO:<\/b> Brian McNeice (IRFU)<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Loose Pass: \u2018Flawed\u2019 Rugby World Cup \u2018outgrows\u2019 its territories while \u2018economic reality\u2019 hits All Blacks<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth makes a timely return to lead the Sharks in their Round 15 United Rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[5316,1102,225,12,4151,934,2196,79,16,15,4510],"class_list":{"0":"post-32110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-eben-etzebeth","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-home-page","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-rugby","13":"tag-sharks","14":"tag-south-africa","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-united-rugby-championship"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114362949558435079","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}