ALTHOUGH they won’t be directly opposite each other on the park, winger JP Pietersen said the Sharks backline has enough gas to handle Southern Kings sensation Sergeal Petersen at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
Much has been made of Petersen’s sterling Super Rugby debut against the Western Force two weeks ago but the 18-year-old will face his toughest test so far when he comes up against Springbok Lwazi Mvovo.
Should he somehow get through, there is Pietersen and Louis Ludik to contend with .
“He’s going to be a handful for us we’ve got the pace to handle him,” said Pietersen.
“We must also be clever and put him under pressure because they will try to do the same with us. Lwazi, who is playing opposite him, is an experienced campaigner and he knows the team’s standard of play.
“It’s going to be an exciting Saturday for all of us and the crowd is going to be pumped up.”
Pietersen was full of praise for the Grey High School old boy, who scored two good tries in the Kings’ 22-10 triumph over the Force despite only doing his matric last year.
“It’s good for South Africa that we’ve got some good talent coming through and it’s also a wake-up call to me not to get into a comfort zone.
“From what I saw against the Force he’s got a lot of potential to become one of the good wings in the country. He’s still very young and he’s still got a lot to learn.
“It’s going to be a tough year for him to keep up the standard he has set. But he’s got a bright future.”
The Kings will play in their first SA conference derby this weekend and they only need to watch tapes of the Sharks’ 12-6 win over the Stormers last weekend if they were under any illusions of how tough and physical these contests could become.
Sharks coach John Plumtree said some of the players came to him with sore bodies crying that it was the most physically daunting game of their careers.
Pietersen said although the Sharks backline failed to motor in the defence-orientated clash against the Stormers, the two consecutive wins were a great morale boost.
“We are very happy with our performances so far. We’ve got eight points now from two games and it’s very pleasing for any team to start with two wins on the trot. We still want to work on our attack, where we feel we can do much better.
“We want to score some bonus point tries and the backline wants to get more involved in the game. But it is always going to be tough at the beginning of the tournament.
“The most important thing, which the coach spoke about, is to be more clinical at the breakdown and to get quicker ball. That will help the backline get the ball wide more,” he said.
Kings wing wonder up against it
Much has been made of Petersen’s sterling Super Rugby debut against the Western Force two weeks ago but the 18-year-old will face his toughest test so far when he comes up against Springbok Lwazi Mvovo.
Should he somehow get through, there is Pietersen and Louis Ludik to contend with .
“He’s going to be a handful for us we’ve got the pace to handle him,” said Pietersen.
“We must also be clever and put him under pressure because they will try to do the same with us. Lwazi, who is playing opposite him, is an experienced campaigner and he knows the team’s standard of play.
“It’s going to be an exciting Saturday for all of us and the crowd is going to be pumped up.”
Pietersen was full of praise for the Grey High School old boy, who scored two good tries in the Kings’ 22-10 triumph over the Force despite only doing his matric last year.
“It’s good for South Africa that we’ve got some good talent coming through and it’s also a wake-up call to me not to get into a comfort zone.
“From what I saw against the Force he’s got a lot of potential to become one of the good wings in the country. He’s still very young and he’s still got a lot to learn.
“It’s going to be a tough year for him to keep up the standard he has set. But he’s got a bright future.”
The Kings will play in their first SA conference derby this weekend and they only need to watch tapes of the Sharks’ 12-6 win over the Stormers last weekend if they were under any illusions of how tough and physical these contests could become.
Sharks coach John Plumtree said some of the players came to him with sore bodies crying that it was the most physically daunting game of their careers.
Pietersen said although the Sharks backline failed to motor in the defence-orientated clash against the Stormers, the two consecutive wins were a great morale boost.
“We are very happy with our performances so far. We’ve got eight points now from two games and it’s very pleasing for any team to start with two wins on the trot. We still want to work on our attack, where we feel we can do much better.
“We want to score some bonus point tries and the backline wants to get more involved in the game. But it is always going to be tough at the beginning of the tournament.
“The most important thing, which the coach spoke about, is to be more clinical at the breakdown and to get quicker ball. That will help the backline get the ball wide more,” he said.
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