Leinster coach Leo Cullen has been coy this week about the composition of his team to play the Sharks but it turns out it wasn’t because he was bringing a flood of heavyweight internationals but rather because he was sending two home in the form of RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett.
Cullen announced his team late on Friday and the Springbok lock and All Black centre were conspicuous by their absence from the match 23.
Cullen has, however, out of necessity called up Ireland prop Cian Healy because of injuries.
The only explanation for the omission of the pair can be that Cullen has sent them home to Dublin to join the small army of Ireland stars who are preparing for Leinster’s last-16 Champions Cup match against Bath.
That is how serious the European teams take the Champions Cup although Leinster are also so far ahead in the United Rugby Championship that they can afford to drop points in South Africa and still be certain to finish No 1 on the points table.
The Irishmen did pick up a point in Pretoria last week and if they can earn another one in Durban, they will consider it a reasonable mission to the Republic.
The fact that Leinster are fielding a side of up-and-comers as opposed to seasoned Test stars puts the pressure firmly on the Sharks.
The Sharks are close to optimum strength, with Eben Etzebeth, Aphelele Fassi and Lukhanyo Am the notable absentees, but they can no longer claim to have an injury crisis. They are also playing on the green grass of home while the rain of that has drenched Durban this week is expected to give way to a hot and steamy Saturday evening.
Also in their favour are the strong ticket sales for a game that doubles as the annual SharkFest — close to 20 000 fans will be in raucous attendance.
Sharks coach John Plumtree knows this game will say plenty about whether the Sharks are serious contenders for the URC title. They are in fourth place on the log courtesy of having won all six home games they have played at Hollywoodbets Kings Park this season in the URC.
The Sharks have also won their last two fixtures at home to Irish provinces yet question marks remain over their title credentials because their season has been punctuated by unexpected flops. The pattern is for them to look good in winning a couple of games and then go off the boil against weaker opponents.
Plumtree’s men have lately beaten the Lions and Zebre in Durban and they need to beat Leinster to make a statement that they are the real deal.
Perhaps the best thing that could have happened to Sharks was for them to almost lose to Zebre because it will get then in the right mood for Leinster.
As Plumtree said: “The idea is to tighten up this week. Fortunately I thought our forwards produced their best performance of the season last week. I guess the big one is that every part of the game against a side like Leinster is contested. There are no gimmees.
“The Bulls got on top of them in the scrums. But the lineouts, breakdown and attack tested every part of the game. It is going to be a big challenge for us. We simply must not allow them to dominate facets of the game where they can get on top of us.”
Sharks team
15 Yaw Penxe 14 Ethan Hooker 13 Jurenzo Julius 12 Andre Esterhuizen 11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Jordan Hendrikse 9 Jaden Hendrikse 8 Siya Kolisi (captain) 7 Vincent Tshituka 6 James Venter 5 Emile van Heerden 4 Jason Jenkins 3 Vincent Koch 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.
Bench: 16 Fez Mbatha 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu 18 Ruan Dreyer 19 Corne Rahl 20 Manu Tshituka 21 Bradley Davids 22 Francois Venter 23 Siya Masuku.
Leinster team
15 Jimmy O’Brien 14 Tommy O’Brien 13 Liam Turner 12 Charlie Tector 11 Andrew Osborne 10 Ciarán Frawley 9 Fintan Gunne 8 Max Deegan (captain), 7 Will Connors 6 Alex Soroka 5 Brian Deeny 4 Diarmuid Mangan 3 Thomas Clarkson 2 John McKee 1 Cian Healy.
Bench: 16 Lee Barron 17 Michael Milne 18 Rory McGuire 19 Alan Spicer 20 Scott Penny 21 Oliver Coffey 22 Ross Byrne 23 Henry McErlean.