Grant Bashford, Assistant Coach at the Sharks confirmed today that Bismarck du Plessis had not broken any ribs in the Stormers’ match
Don’t write off Bismarck
For this tough hooker, the matter of a few of bumps and bruises is something he takes in his stride and Grant Bashford, Assistant Coach at the Sharks confirmed today that Bismarck du Plessis had not broken any ribs in the Stormers’ match.
“Bismarck ran well yesterday, he took no contact as a precautionary measure, but there are no broken ribs,” he explained. “He hasn’t been pulled out, we’re optimistic he will play against the Bulls on Saturday.”
He also confirmed that scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar was suffering from a Grade 1 collarbone injury and would out for between 10 and 12 days, but that he should be back for the Blues game.
For the Bulls match this weekend, the Sharks are expected to name pretty much the same squad as for the Stormers match, with one or two options depending on the bench. Charl McLeod may come in as scrumhalf backup to Rory Kockott who will start in the place of Pienaar, or Fred Michalak, who has had scrumhalf experience at International level, could assist.
The Sharks may have come in for criticism for not playing enough running rugby, but that would be suicidal given the conditions in Durban in February. Bashford also explained that conditioning-wise, the Sharks are still ‘getting there’.
“It was part of our plan to leave our Boks to recover after the Rugby World Cup, so we didn’t rush them back until 3 January where the rest of the squad had been going since the beginning of November. We thought the long break would be good for all of them. From a conditioning perspective, we knew our Boks would be off the pace, but it’s a long tournament and you don’t want to be peaking in Round One.”
Although they boast a 100% success record after two weeks, Bashford explained that, “A team is never completely happy with its performance, and there are areas for us that need looking at, where we could have done better.
“But we never expected to go into the tournament and hit our straps in Round 1 or 2. The type of rugby we are playing now is not what we’d like to, but sometimes you need to go backwards to go forwards, and right now it’s better to have two wins having played the way we have.”
Discipline is another important aspect underpinning a team’s success, and already it has been shown to cost teams matches after only two rounds.
“In two friendlies, the Sharks were handed five cards,” admitted Bashford, “but the team addressed the discipline, the leadership in the side has discussed it, got it out the way before the competition started, and it’s good to see the way the guys have carried it through from talking about it to taking it onto the field.
“With the new ELVs, there is enough running with 15 men, so you put yourselves under huge pressure when you are a man down.”
The Sharks are expecting a backlash from the Bulls who suffered a huge defeat against the Crusaders last week, and Bashford admitted that, “We have huge respect for the Bulls. And they caught the Crusaders when they were flying and lost their own way a bit. Any side can get a hiding from anyone in this tournament if you don’t turn up but even so, if they hadn’t lost last week, it’s a Sharks-Bulls derby and the Bulls are always up for us.
“There are a lot of good players in their team and they aren’t the Super 14 champs for nothing. I know they lost personnel, but so have a lot of teams. They beat the Stormers away, but would be very disappointed with their performance against the Crusaders and that will bring out a sting in their tails.”
He felt that once the Crusaders got on top, they strangled the Bulls and didn’t let them back in the game, “which is something they do well. Also, the New Zealand sides have a point to prove after losing out in the World Cup, and to get things back on track, it is important for all their sides to do well in the Super 14.
“To play the Champions where they lost in the semis last year was probably the carrot the Crusaders needed.”
He admitted that it is vitally important for a team to win its home games, and slipping up at home puts pressure later on when traveling. However, the Sharks have a good record at Loftus, “We don’t see traveling or being away as that much of a problem – it hasn’t been in the past as we’ve proved,” he said. “The guys are looking forward to it. They’re also looking forward to a respite from the heat we’ve been dealing with in Durban.
“The ball stays dry in Pretoria, and we are looking forward to getting out of the humidity and playing a bit.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Looks like it could be humble pie time for yours truly – reminds me of another great Sauce scandal… 😉 Well, we were right about the injury and he remains a possible non-starter.
Of course there is the minuscule possibility that this is a smokscreen, but we hope not, and trust that Big Bismark will be there to hand out a few “Bissies”. 😆
Tweet
The Sharks are making the right noises, they can’t afford to be complacent at all for this match, based on the Bulls performance against the Crusaders. The Bulls always get themselves up for a Sharks match and just think about the huge match Bakkies had 2 seasons ago against the Sharks.
Shit, I would LOVE for this news NOT to be true. We’ll print a full retraction and include a picture of Big Fish kissing Bismarck’s ass 🙂
55. Posted by RobDylan (Hamchutney) on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 – 12:41
Well we are waiting for this big retraction and the puckering of fishs lips.
did I mention Fish will be covering his own expenses in this matter? 🙂
ok i see a not so big retraction.
Absolutely disgraceful.
First Rob dents the late Gerbrand Grobler’s name yesterday & now he speculates wildly that Bismarck broke ribs…
what ever happened to “journos checking their facts”
😳
1) I did not write the story
2) I am NOT a journo
🙂
I told you it was a rumour!!! 👿 🙂
Feeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssshhhhh….?
sheesh rob weren’t we talking about quality instead of quantity not so long ago. 💡 😉
🙄
(wonder if Rob can yellow card himself?)
hey… look, if we hadn’t broken this story, there wouldn’t be a retraction up on the Sharks site. Guess that means that somebody is taking us a little bit seriously.
Anyway, Fish wasn’t wrong about Bismarck being injured. It’s just the extent that is not known at this stage.
hang on everyone, i haven’t written anything for a while so i am going to write an article on a fight between aj and keegan over a cellphone that they found strapped to ruan’s chest. it is obviously true cos it will be on this site. i love freedom of expression. the great flaw called democracy. 😆 😆
Geez – talk about shooting the messenger!
Repeatedly!
Ok fine, maybe I am no Lois Lane, but hell, we weren’t COMPLETELY wrong (Rob, note the use of the word “we”? Thanks for the support mate 👿 ).
I’m here guys – take all the shots you want!
eish
hehe try time!
Ja ok, it’s probably bruised ribs then – maybe they’re waiting tos ee if he can take ccontact & play through the pain, cause I see Bashford just refutes that the ribs are broken (not bruised) & concedes that there is a possibility of him not playing….
if he does play I’m sure he’ll have a few cortisone injections before, during & after the game 🙂
jinne Fish, but I’m glad you’re not my lawyer…
you should know ALL about “libel action”…
Quinny, in SA its defamation – and there is not even the slightest possibility of that here – firstly cos nothing we said was an injury to anybody’s reputation, and secondly, and quite superfluously, cos we have the normal defence of public benefit etc should we require it.
Before Rob takes down the blog and goes into hidding, some good news…the latest Amatomu.com sport blog rankings according to hits:
1 Keo.co.za
2 Rugbydump.com
3 SARugby.com
4 Sharksworld
5 I AM A STORMER
6 The Science of Sport
7 MyRugbyNews.co.za
8 Sport Shorts at The Times
9 Paki’s Corner
10 Shebeen Social Club
we still love your work guys. keep it up. sharksrugby wouldn’t have had an article today if it wasn’t for your expansion on the truth. and ness got everyone in a spin over the news. so it was quite rousing article after all, eventhough it was an expansion on the truth.
thanks DP. Picked up on that tidbit yesterday.
Anyway, like I just said to fish, let’s wait and see who takes the field on Saturday. Our Sauce remains adamant that the ribs are broken.
Hold on guys – consider the saucy news disproved when Bismark walks out at Loftus – and dont be taken in should you hear that his “bruised” ribs will take a while to heal.
But in all seriousness, all of us at Sharksworld hope they are not broken, as he is a vital cog in the Sharks machine.
TT – like I said, we’ll see what the real truth is on Saturday. We got the guts of the story right… just the details that might not be 100% accurate.
Quinny, in SA its defamation – and there is not even the slightest possibility of that here – firstly cos nothing we said was an injury to anybody’s reputation,
lol, Fish, of course its defamation cause you just shattered Bissie’s superhardman, Henjak-smashing, Giteau-trampling image!
1 Keo.co.za
2 Rugbydump.com
3 SARugby.com
4 Sharksworld
5 I AM A STORMER
And just like their rugby team, the Stormers site starts the slow descent down the log… 😯
don’t think this site has any chance of surpassing Voldy’s pad…it seems to be the playground for most SA school kids & a smattering of Bulls fans frustrated by their primitive site.
rugbydump seems quite cool, the youtube of rugby?!
we ain’t gonna pip number 3 anytime soon.
Also, I suspect the boys at RW are not correctly reporting their views to Amatomu.
26.02.08 14:34:49 – robdylan
I thought so too…
Big Fish,
Bruised or broken ribs I can already read between the lines that Bismarck are out… 😥
I still say – where there is smoke there is fire!
rob i hope bis does play though or it might put a burden on the front row. 😆 😆 😆 😆
TT – be nice! 👿
sorry ness. but i just couldn’t let that one slip by. i am sure craig can carry the burden. he is a good player.
Not disclosing the full extent of his injury maybe Sharks the infamous misinformation campaign?
😆
tell you what… more to this than meets the eye.