John Plumtree yesterday ended much of the speculation that has been doing the rounds when he confirmed Keegan Daniel and Bismarck du Plessis as captain and vice captain respectively for the Sharks Super Rugby campaign. While I feel the Sharks have made the right choices – in fact, the obvious choices – from a squad perspective, I’m a little worried about how this might translate into on-field leadership. [...]
Posts tagged with: Leadership
Leaders in the pack (but what about the backs?)
Time for a break
This article started as a comment but ended up being so long that I thought it might be an appropriate article. [...]
Confidence… Justified
Could we move on from the – where who should play and where who will “maybe” play and look at what we have and will be up against in Saturday’s semi-final. It seems after the inhalation of the log topping Lions in the final pool game, [...]
Give Stef a break
We’ve been pretty hard on the veteran, Oom Stefan Terblanche, over the last few weeks, what with a string of recent performances that fall somewhat short of the high standards he has set himself over a glittering career. I think it’s time we give him a break. Literally. [...]
Getting the spark back
This year’s Currie cup for the Sharks has certainly been a frustrating one for us supporters. Despite a comprehensive opening day beating of the Blue Bulls, the Sharks have flattered to deceive and their performances have looked quite patchy for the most part with moments of promise interspersed with maddening losses of concentration and poor play. [...]
Keeping the focus
One of the things that John Plumtree would have drummed into his players this past week would have been the importance of not being complacent this coming Friday. The Sharks simply have to be focused on the immediate task at hand on Friday night. [...]
To build, you need continuity
In order for the Sharks to build on improved Super Rugby showing in 2011, it is vital that steady exodus of key players from the squad that has hampered continuity in recent years be minimised. [...]
Smit confirmed as World Cup captain
Peter de Villiers has done what I think is the most sensible thing, in retaining John Smit as captain of the Springboks in 2011. Despite question marks about the Sharks man’s form and ability to hold down a starting berth from some quarters, the coach has shown faith in his leadership team and backed Smit – along with vice captain Victor Matfield – to do the business one last time. [...]
Another week, another skipper for Cheetahs
Sharks old boy Andries Strauss will become the fourth Cheetahs captain in as many matches as he leads the central team out against the Lions this weekend. Coach Naka Drotske has dropped flyhalf Naas Olivier after an unimpressive showing, both as playmaker and captain against the Stormers last week. [...]
Smit left with difficult decision
Jake White, the former Springbok World Cup Winning coach, has made it clear that he thinks John Smit should retire. The Springboks are a mere nine months away from defending their title in New Zealand. [...]
The changing of the guard
After the retirement of Gary Teichmann and various other senior Sharks players, as well as legendary coach Ian McIntosh, the Sharks went through a season of disappointment as the team failed to adjust to life without the old stalwarts and ultimately slumped to bottom of the Super 12 table. While the form of the Sharks has improved somewhat since then it seems that there will be a new, if less dramatic, changing of the guard in the leadership of the Sharks. [...]
Everitt keeps his options open
Sean Everitt and the rest of the Sharks XV coaches are currently putting a pretty large squad of players through their paces to try and determine which of those guys will give the union the best chance of bringing the Vodacom Cup trophy to the Shark Tank this season. There are currently around 40 players in the wider training squad, but this will be cut down to a more manageable size closer to the start of the season. [...]
More questions than answers
So the question on everyone’s lips at the moment, I guess, is bound to be “have the Boks turned the corner?”, after a gutsy win against England that was as impressive as it was convincing. The “fire Peter de Villiers” brigade got exactly what they didn’t want this weekend, with a tour return of 3 from 4 seemingly enough to guarantee the Bok coach his tenure until the 2011 World Cup. [...]
Boks fresh out of ideas
The icy wind that blew through Murrayfield Stadium yesterday afternoon – brigning with it lashings of rain that drowned out any hopes of a Springbok victory – may just prove to be the early pre-cursor to the winds of change that must now, surely, bring new life and new direction to the embattled South African side. [...]
Tribute to the Champions
With the Currie cup final victory having had a week to sink in, Sharks fans have a lot of players to thank for their outstanding commitment, team spirit and great rugby that the Sharks squad provided us with. [...]
