Lions must wait for Junior Springbok star Batho Hlekani after Sharks dig in their heels

The tug-of-war between the Sharks and the Lions over Junior Springbok heavyweight Batho Hlekani has swung in favour of the Durbanites — for the time being.

A press conference with JP Pietersen revealed that Hlekani will be with the Sharks until 31 December, when the burly flanker’s contract with the KwaZulu-Natal union ends.

The Lions have apparently signed Hlekani and had hoped to have him on board for the Currie Cup, but the Sharks have dug in their heels.

Hlekani, fresh from training with the Springboks, plays his first game of the year for the Sharks, taking over from the injured Tino Mavesere — one of three senior players to suffer injuries last week. The others are lock Corne Rahl and wing Yaw Penxe.

The Sharks have had a difficult start to the year. They began from scratch with a young squad, and after two heavy defeats on the Highveld — against the Lions and the Bulls — they fought hard to narrowly lose 7-5 to the Cheetahs in Durban last week.

“We are moving in the right direction,” Pietersen said. “We had a huge improvement from the Bulls game to the Cheetahs game, so we have something positive we can build on going to Griquas on Friday.”

Joining Pietersen was captain Nick Hatton, who added: “Although we didn’t beat the Cheetahs, the game was a step in the right direction. We did a lot of things right. We’ve been put under pressure in training this week and we want to build on that performance in Kimberley.

“We all play to win,” Hatton continued, as the Sharks look to end their losing start to the Currie Cup. “We are doing everything we can, giving 100 per cent every day. Winning is the end goal, but we are focusing on our process and our performance come 3pm on Friday.”

Pietersen said that an obvious area where the Sharks need to improve is their ability to score tries.

“If you look at the Cheetahs game, the score was 7-5, so when both sides had the ball, the defences held firm. We would love to get better on attack, but attack requires cohesion and that takes time.

“Are we getting better in training? Yes, we are. Our attack is a big focus for us, but it takes time. Going to Kimberley, you need to score points to win games.”

Hatton said morale in the squad remains high.

“We are positive. Last week’s performance helped build some confidence — especially on defence. Being the young group we are, we’re excited about the game time we’re getting and want to capitalise on it. There’s a lot of excitement and positivity in the group.”

Sharks Team

15 Jaco Williams, 14 Christie Grobbelaar, 13 Diego Appollis, 12 Marnus Potgieter, 11 Pascal Ekeji, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Ceano Everson, 8 Nick Hatton (captain), 7 Barto Hlekani, 6 Matt Romeo, 5 Deon Slabbert, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Bryce Calvert, 1 Phatu Ganyane.

Bench: 16 Willem van den Hever, 17 Simphiwe Ngobese, 18 Phiwaynkosi Khubeka, 19 Coetzee le Roux, 20 Jannes Potgieter, 21 Tiaan Fourie 22 Jean Smith, 23 Hakeem Kunene.