With the vast majority of the Sharks pack that featured in the Super 14 unavailable, at least for the first few rounds of Currie Cup action, the Sharks are going to have to change their strategy somewhat in order to achieve early success in the competition.
The Super 14 season was, in general, a tale of woe, but the one thing that did really start to work nicely, particularly towards the end of the season when the Sharks won 7 of their last 8 games, was the pack. The myriad failings in the back line were, to an extent, masked by the fact that Plumtree and co had managed to mould a truly formidable set of forwards, which was able to secure and retain possession virtually at will. The endless succession of pick-and-gos and rolling mauls may not have been every fan’s cup of tea, but at least they resulted in territory, pressure and ultimately, points for the good guys.
Sweeping changes in personell will necessitate a fresh approach. THAT pack contained the likes of John Smit, Jannie du Plessis, Beast Mtawarira (all with the Boks) as well as Johann Muller (moved on), Willem Alberts, Jean Deysel and Bismarck du Plessis (all injured). The pack likely to be named to face Griquas in the first round (as well as the Blue Bulls in the second) is likely to be geared towards mobility and skill, rather than bulk and aggression. It’s hard to express exactly how much of a hard edge your pack loses when you take a Deysel, an Alberts or a Smit out of the equation. Losing so many at once and replacing them with eager youngsters changes the dynamic entirely and it would be foolhardy to try and play the same style of rugby and expect the same results.
There is a flipside, though – a silver lining if you will. In bringing in players like Pat Cilliers, Craig Burden, Alistair Hargreaves and Keegan Daniel the Sharks are in a unique position to field a pack that, while considerably lighter than anything the Bulls, Province or Free State are likely to field, should also be a hell of a lot more mobile with plenty of pace and skill. Use that wisely and we could end up playing a far more exciting and dynamic brand of rugby than we did in the Super 14.
The unfortunate reality, though, is that the backs will need to be involved every step of the way. Let’s hope that we can see a new brand of Sharks rugby emerging as a result of these changes – in fact, it might even be one strangely reminiscent of the one we used to play back in the golden era of Sharks rugby. A man can dream, can’t he?
Agreed..
Why thank you
1 more week to go!
I believe we will do very good throughout the competition, its the semies that I worry about.
@SharksRTB (Comment 1) : Well, there you have it then
Sykes is a hard man in that pack, that’s for sure. Young Mike Rhodes is another not shy of contact. Alberts and Deysel are a huge loss at this stage though. We would have always counted on Smit, Beast, Bismarck and possibly Jannie being unavailable at this time.
Keen to see how Herbst goes, he looks really promising at 3. Would also like to see Craig Burden getting game time, he is a fantastic player.
Hargs is another who needs to put his marker down this CC. With Mostert, Skeate around he is going to be pushed hard which hopefully will bring the best out in him.
@Oubaas2009 (Comment 5) : Who do you think they’re going to settle on for our starting props? Possibly Pat Cilliers & Herbst?
@robdylan (Comment 2) : Hey Rob, maybe you shouldv’e called your post: The Brand New “Not so” Heavies
the scrums didnt look so good against the valke, even with beast there, it might be tough
So Rob, if you were to select a Match 22 to face the Griquas, what would it be?
@CS (Comment 6) : Yeah, I reckon Cilliers on the loosehead and Herbst at 3. That’s how they scrummed in the Vodacom this year. I think with 2 of Sykes, Hargs, Mostert or Skeate behind them, they should be okay.
Think our loosies are a little light if we play Daniel and Botes in the same trio but with all the injuries we don’t have much choice.
Presuming Swannie, Ludick are fit for Griquas, I reckon they will go with something like this…
1. Cilliers
2. Burden
3. Herbst
4. Sykes
5. Hargreaves
6. Botes
7. Rhodes
8. Daniel
9. Kockott
10. Meyer
11. Mvovo
12. Swanepoel
13. Terblanche (c)
14. Ludick
15. Lambie
16. Cooper
17. Van Staden / Nhlapo
18. Skeate
19. Downey/ Ndlovu/ Lusaseni
20. McCleod
21. Dumond
22. Sithole/ Stemmet/ Lindeque (sp?)
What happening with Zuks? Anyone know? Is he injured?
I see the flou nulle babies got klapped by the junior cubs! Now I suppose GLRU will offer the BB babies a contract…
What happened to Odwa?
Do we have a date for Adie`s return yet?
@Original Pierre (Comment 14) : Odwa injured whilst playing for Boks. Not sure about Adi.
@Oubaas2009 (Comment 11) : Not a bad team… but, not a brilliant team either considering how few of our guys are away on Springbok duty.
@Oubaas2009 (Comment 12) : knee injury… I think he’ll be out for a while
@Original Pierre (Comment 14) :Adi will prob be out for the first half of the Currie Cup
my info is that Ludick’s injury wasn’t at all serious… just a dead leg
@JarsonX (Comment 3) : Getting just a little ahead of yourself there, aren’t you?
@Original Pierre (Comment 14) : Odwa has become too slow IMO to play on the wing (he also has a habit of dropping balls / knocking on at the tryline), let the young guys with gas play there and let them get the experience.
@Greg (Comment 20) : Do u really think the Sharks might not make it? Shame on you
@JarsonX (Comment 22) : I live in hope
@Greg (Comment 23) : now that’s just Schadenfreude! Shame on you
The brand new Heavies mmmmm
so Chaz is expecting big very big players for the CC
hehehehe we are going to crush the teams
And then the CC will be back in Sharks Tank
can’t wait
@Greg (Comment 23) : hope well we have hope we don’t live in hope we are going to crush the lot of you
eeeeeee
May the best team win
and that is our Sharks 
There,s a problem here we,ve got a mobile pack but the sharks don,t have the backline to play running rugby the centers are a big concern ,other than that the sharks could play a great complete brand of rugby hopefully ,the sharks a f -ed though if the bulls and wp have heavier packs and running backlines we at a disadvantage
@zvision10 (Comment 27) : you’re right.
Let’s all give up and rather support other teams. Then Brian van Zyl will be forced to resign.
@robdylan (Comment 28) :
what other teams 
I read this article with misty eyes, nostalgic for the days of the Bananaboys… 1990 and before – days of Hankinson, Jamieson, Watson, Claasen, Hefer… Recently watched a clip of Natal vs the Cavaliers – and Reece Edwards being interviewed after the match, wide-eyed with “thousand yard stare” after a game where the Banaboys had to deal with some ill-tempered Cavalier intensity… Beautiful…
Those were the days…
Sharks have now scored 20 tries in their last two outings, admittedly against weak opposition. Still, could this be a good sign of things to come?
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 30) :
and agree those were the days, just glad then we played if me correct in B & W glad it wasn’t yellow 
@robdylan (Comment 31) : it could be
but then not we still hv to play the brag gatte and the rest
@chaz (Comment 32) : Black and White, always… Certainly not yellow and not “Shark” grey
Well sorry to say only got to read it now and evenly with gran kids in bed i can relax and enjoy SW and a glass of wine
and my what a great team 
So true we can all dream and at some point old ones go and the their play of the game goes with them
But now the new ones
we have to well say can’t take the game of the old guys rugby, The way the old Sharks and the new Sharks are well very different just as in the real world.
So we have to adjust to the young Sharks and hope we have what its name holds to keep up with the old.
So like most of us are hoping to get is young and fresh blood to keep the vampiers off the cup that should be in Sharks Tank
so i say
and SW are behind you 1000%
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 34) :
what happened to the sunshine today rob
I don,t dislike brian vz jus for fun I dislike him because he is the problem thats the reality of it ,he makes the decisions and if things aren,t going well in any company the c.e.o is the one who makes the decisions and if there problems he takes the heat ,all the problems the sharks are having lead back to his decisions and along his there this is going to keep happening so I,m cutting my losses and I like running rugby more then I will ever like any team well they pull there heads out there asses I,ll rejoin the band wagon
o.k I,ll start being more constructive ,well I,ll try but I need a star upgrade
@zvision10 (Comment 38) : start by uploading a picture. That will get you 50 points.
Then make more comments more often and you’ll soon get more points – and more stars
Apparently Graham Henry let is leak on twitter that the Tri Nation match between the Boks and NZ will be played at Soccer city…..nice I might just try and get tickets
@robdylan (Comment 39) : And where is my crown for being the Queen of this blog???? Or does that title go to Wes??
Now serioulsy, why am I only a S14 player? – I should at least be a captain or a coach!!
@Ice (Comment 41) : I;m STLL only a CC player…
The queen has been lazy recently thats why
@Pokkel (Comment 42) : Rob needs to give us an update of what points are required to get to each stage… it seems this is a hot topic lately… clearly the rugby is a bit slow
@Pokkel (Comment 42) : even with being lazy…I am still in the top 5 I think…besides I have been with team SW since the start…SURELY that should mean smthg??? **hint hint**
@CS (Comment 43) : I don’t really care about that. The more stars I have just shows how much less my productivity is
@Ice (Comment 44) : You have the same problem I have. You not placing enough posts….maybe I should get of my lazy ass and start writing some articles….although in the current state of sharks rugby I don’t have much to say.
@Pokkel (Comment 45) : True… but it would be nice to have something to show for my lack of productivity… even if it is just a row of shiny stars
@robdylan (Comment 28) : If I thought that that kind of protest action would work, then that would be the one time you would see me in a sharks jersey(or bulls, or cheetahs)
@Pokkel (Comment 46) : I have plenty ideas, but it might not go down well on a rugby sight!
@Ice (Comment 49) : But it might be a ‘sight’ for sore eyes
@Ice (Comment 49) : site…gosh me and my sightings
@Greg (Comment 50) : ghough!!!
Do a search for ‘so what’s with all the stars’ and you should find the article
@Ice (Comment 51) : Yeah, we may have to ‘cite’ you for that one
@robdylan (Comment 39) : Rob, I have uploaded a profile pic and it has been under review for a while…
Am I missing some step here…
Now I promise the pic is entirely innocent – Orange rugby ballesque lights in a dark sky…
I took great pride in a painstaking search for an appropriate pic for this here SharksWorld blog site… Alas, to be greeted everytime I login to gruesome red font with the words of condemnation “Under Review”….
Just in case I am not shmarmy enough with my pleading request, I attempt to reinforce with what I hope is the magic, “open-sesame” callsign: “SHARKS FOREVER”…
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 55) :
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 55) : oops… must have missed the email
Thank you, kind sir.
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 58) : my apologies! Nothing intentional, I assure you
@robdylan (Comment 59) :
I made myself a crown…seeing you dont wanna help me out!
Pretty please approve… 
@robdylan (Comment 59) : I was being sincere, not sarkie I promise…
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 60) : You must write a thousand lines willing the Sharks to win the Currie Cup invoking the glory days of the 90′s, the cavalier spirit of the 80′s and your desire to redecorate your home in a theme of black and white stripes… Rob might then consider it
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 61) : Aaaagh!! Stop with the mushy stuff! Give him stick!!!
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 62) : I reckon over tha past 3 years I have done about all of that!!
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 63) : I agree…where is megatron?? We could have some fun this afternoon.
Let’s invite Klempie as well…I’m bored
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 63) : My rep did precede before taking the plunge on Sharks World… Slowly easing in, showing all due respect and all that
Of course that does not exclude a little bowing and scraping to the “Queen” in this here part of the digital divide…
Ice, just hit ctrl-F5
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 66) : Have I apologised yet? Maybe I need to, cos I think I might have judged you unfairly based on the Keo stuff. I guess everybody should be able to start here with a clean slate.
Hell, if we’re going to judge people based on their Keo behaviour, I’ll need to ban both wpw and myself immediately
@robdylan (Comment 68) :
Please speak for yourself!!
@robdylan (Comment 68) : My Keo behaviour is nothing more than a mild-mannered experimentation of Capetonian-reaction to devils advocate…
Misinterpretation abounds… It seems easy to classify and put personae into boxes at first…
Sometimes more is happening than meets the eye
Floksake, I got a fright.
I just got promoted. 1 star General
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 71) :
@robdylan (Comment 68) : No need to apologise. Blogging is a contact sport and Keo is but one… HG is a drifter in the digital desert from Rugby blogs to the philosophical BS baffles brains blogs, obviously when work permits… HG blogs under several nomme de geurre, but is slowly unifying the personae all under one “brand” of bs… Sharksworld by comparison with some rugby commentary sites is very well mannered – on one notable site (not Keo) I have had the misfortune of being greeted with F.off noob for my first 1000 posts… I now am able to say the same with no guilt to subsequent “noobs”. (A bit like being a fag to sixth former at barding school) So credit to Sharks World for a non-boarding school approach…
@robdylan (Comment 68) : I think you should ban wpw just because he is from the cape
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 73) : At least here u get a STAR for that! How cool is THAT?! Here we do the Gr2 approach!
@Greg (Comment 74) : Some would say on the contrary, for a WP supporter finding Sharks World is akin to a stranded parched lost soul in a desert coming across an Oasis – a fountain of Rugby knowledge all but missing in a Sahel of Rassie inspired pinpong bat coded team calls and blonde player quotas… So by all means don’t ban WPW, rather he must state the following words : “I hereby swear that I love the Team of Oxlee, Bedford, Jamieson, La Croix, Mendez and Barney. Although I may not support the Bananaboy-Sharks, I have endured a lifetime of envy. Please pity me while I seek salvation in Shark Rugby knowledgedom. Although I am unfortunate to be a Weepee supporter I must say: “SHARKS FOREVER”. Amen”
That should do it?
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 75) : Showzer!!! In my day it was called Class 2, one class below Standard 1 where I could think of myself as a big little boy… I never, ever got a gold star… My teachers preferred red stripes across my forever hardened buttocks…
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 71) : ‘grats on your first star.
Getting the first three is relatively easy… it gets quite hard after that
@robdylan (Comment 78) : Good man.
My very own Gold Star, not to mention my profile pic of identity…
I feel complete…
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 76) : Far too eloquent for a Friday afternoon
Kiff… we have a current Sharks player entered in our Fantasy League
@Greg (Comment 80) : Okay, banning’s good…
@robdylan (Comment 81) : What is the Fantasy league?
@robdylan (Comment 78) : I actually like the fact that I have only the two. Under 21 player! Makes me feel quite young, it’s been a while since I was actually under 21!
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 83) : It’s the league where every team lives up to the hype generated by the respective supporters
Well aren’t we a bored bunch…
@Greg (Comment 85) : Yeah, I now understand fully…
The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead with me, I’m afraid, still…
@HG (Heavens Game – not the sponsor) (Comment 83) : http://www.justrugby.net
@robdylan (Comment 81) : Now there’s a word I haven’t heard in a longgggg time