I’m not sure when last I felt like the Sharks were in THIS MUCH trouble.
No fire, no direction and a team of ailing stars running around cluelessly like they have no idea whatsoever what is expected of them. Back in 2005 we looked similar and that year, Dick Muir took the revolutionary step of introducing the next generation of Academy stars into the team, en masse. Sure, we had a particularly gifted generation of young stars coming through; Barritt, Murray, Pietersen, Daniel and Kakowski among them, but the injection of youth and enthusiasm had a marked impact on the team.
It’s time to do the same. Skipper Badenhorst needs to go. It’s time to back Burden to deliver and bring in a youngster to understudy for him. Jody Jenneker has gone to the Valke (and we may still rue that) but perhaps we need young Dylan Rutherford or Sibusiso Dube to come in. The decision to sent Johan Snyman to New Zealand is now also looking a daft one, as the youngster could add a lot in the place of the coasting Albert van den Berg, or of Alistair Hargreaves who just hasn’t made the step up.
I keep going on about Justin Downey like he’s some kind of messiah, but honestly, when are we going to give this young man a run? By the time Jean Deysel gets back, it may well be too late to save our season and we’ve seen time and again that Nik Blignaut ain’t the answer at flank.
Scott Mathie needs the bullet, I’m afraid. Macleod needs to start until Rory is better. Put Freddy on the bench to cover scrumhalf, if need be, or bring in Neil de Bruyn. Flyhalf is a huge problem until we get some talent back, but if Brad isn’t fit, let’s have another look at Andrew Borgen, who I feel has been unfairly discarded after a single outing behind a pack that was getting stuffed. Monty Dumond can go back to France.
It’s at centre, though, where I would make the biggest changes. I’d start with Riaan Swanepoel at 12 and bring in the amazing young “Zuks” Vulindlu outside him. I’ve had enough of the carthorses that don’t know how to break the line. Let’s get in some young blood that is quick, strong and above all, eager. Chris Jordaan moves to fullback in my new team, with Lwazi Mvovo and Wes Bodmer the wings.
Here is my revolutionary young Sharks outfit to take on the Lions:
15 Chris Jordaan, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Luzuko Vulindlu, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Wes Bodmer, 10 Brad Barritt/Andrew Borgen, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Jean Deysel/Keegan Daniel, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Deon Carstens
16 Dylan Rutherford, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Pampoen van Jaarsveldt, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Keegan Daniel/Thabo Mamojele, 21 Fred Michalak, 22 Andrew Borgen/Andries Strauss
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ok – so where’s this guy? He played for the u21s last year…
Full Name Ignatius Michael
Nick Name Ignus
Surname Prinsloo
Height 190cm
Weight 105kg
Birth Date 15 April 1987
Birth City Sasolberg
Marital Status Single
Favourite Film A Man Apart
Favourite Music Anything
Favourite Food Pasta
Primary School Park primary
Secondary School Outeniqua High
Tertiary Education ETA
He played flyhalf for Outeniqua in 2005…
“Hot on Monna’s heels came Paarl Gimnasium, at number two after having toppled Monnas off their pedestal briefly during the season. In this article we focus on the number ten ranked side, Outeniqua High School, who skidded into position just a hairsbreadth ahead of Affies.
Outeniqua can look back with pride at the past season, which began on a high note with their win against Grey College (29-19) in Bloemfontein. The April holidays took the side to johanesburg where they participated in the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival, holding hteir own against some ofhte country’s best rugby schools.
The first team went on to be the 2005 South Western Districts (SWD) Super League champs following their victories over HTS Newton, Tygerberg, DF Malan, Rondebosch Boys High, Oakdale and Strand. Outeniqua represented SWD in the Burger competition, a spin off the former Media 24 competition.
HTS Daniël Pienaar were the side to beat in the competition’s semi-final, which put Outeniqua into the final against a highly motivated HTD Drostdy. The Kwaggas took on the challenge and won 24-6 to round off their year in fine style as the Burger Trophy champs in the big schools division.
A little earlier in the year eight of the first team players made the U18 Craven Week and Academy teams. The Craven Week side won all three of their matches, guided by Piet Cloete who was among the team coaches. Under Cloete’s watch and sassited by coaches Chris Hattingh and Lukas Holtzhauzen, the side has done well considering their fairly remote geographic location. The ranking for the Western Province is an interesting read.
In the WP Top 20, Oputeniqia holds a respectable fifth position after Paarl Gim, Bishops, Boland and Paarl Boys High.
1 Paarl Gimnasium 22 627.5
2 Bishops 20 478.7
3 Boland Landbou 20 464.1
4 Paarl Boys High 18 455.2
5 Outeniqua 19 453.5
6 Paul Roos 18 433.9
7 Worcester Gim 17 105.9
8 Oakdale Landbou 16 104.1
9 Strand 23 91.6
10 Stellenberg 18 88.0
Names like Ignus Prinsloo (a top 20 national point scorer with 162 points to his name) cropped up on almost every scorecard. His team mates follow some distance behind with Jaco Colyn and Etienne Carstens on 51 and 40 respectively.
However as every player knows, the points are carried or kicked over thanks to play set up by a whole squad of other men all with the same focus and effort. Based on the team spirit shown by Outeniqua, we predict the side will be a long-time occupant of the top team lists in South African school rugby.”
I agree that that is more like it, Rob. Let the old/senior players prove they deserve to get selected by playing such a young team. The ones that still CAN, will quickly feel it in their pockets. It is unacceptable to carry on struggling with a bunch of players who does’nt WANT to play. Would that some of the administrative people of the sharks wake up a bit!! 👿
feels like the kevin putt era?? what is it with us and NZ coaches?? 😐
@VanWilder (Comment 4) : it does a bit, doesn’t it?
I have no doubt Plum is a good coach – but I don’t think he has the right support staff around him at the moment. Where is the mental coach? I’ve heard there is none. Bashford is out of his depth as backline coach and Shaun Everitt is clearlt having no effect as skills coach
This is the right time to have a crisis, we need the log points!
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 6) : hey! You guys seem to be doing just fine. Not a great time for us to play you.
What’s with letting Griquas score 6 tries, though? If they’d had a goal-kicker, you’d have lost…
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 6) : Ha!! The Lions, like you, are taking advantage of other teams/supporters predicaments. 😀 However, you are justified in gloating. Enjoy it while it lasts. 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 7) :
That game was too close….29-27 at one stage after we lead 24-5 at HT. The tackling in the last 20 minutes was shocking. We missed something like 33 tackles in the match.
I summed up the mistakes again for those interested. (Don’t send the URL to your coach!)
http://www.transvaal.co.za/analysis20080719.asp
Sorry, it was even worse, 34 missed tackles, 22 of them in the 2nd half.
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 10) : Impressive stats!! A ref with only two mistakes? Give him instant promotion.
@Silver Fox (Comment 11) :
I only noted the BLATANT mistakes of the ref..I’m sure he made more.
Rob, I agree, it’s now time to drop the dead wood and give the youngsters a chance. The one’s that deserve the chop have contributed nothing for a while now. Let them either go out to pasture or play for another side.
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 12) : But seriously, with those kind of stats you could run some mean competitions!! Get out of that one-eyed Lion attitude and go places, my man. 😀 😀
You need a solid #12 to do your defence, and there are youngsters around,Just look at Walter Venter (Lions)
@Silver Fox (Comment 14) : I did not mean to chase him off the site!! Honestly 🙄 🙄
Don’t know about making all these changes before the Lions game but YES…we need some CHANGES.
15 Jordaan (he’s got the boot and a cool head…and hopefully fresh ideas)
14 Mvovo (looks like someone who will at least try to step, outsmart and outrun the opposition )
13 Murray (last chance)
12 Riaan Swanepoel (very promising, solid fella)
11 Wes Bodmer (he’s got pace and 2 hands that actually function)
10 Brad Barritt (we NEED his vision. Please come back!)
9 Charl McLeod (Mathie is slower than a 300 yr old tortoise)
@Silver Fox (Comment 16) :
I’m not going anywhere…LOL! But I’m not sure I know what you meant with comment 12?
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 18) : A lot of these competitions doing the rounds are based on stats, especially some of the fantasy league stuff. But one need more than only the stats for the Lions. Actually pulling your leg in complimentary fassion, unless you could fathom a competition for Lions supporters.
Still, your statistics/involvement is commendable. Like the efforts on this site as well. 😎
@Silver Fox (Comment 19) :
I see, so I could run a competition similar to the Fantasy League, but deduct points for a knock, forward pass, penalty conceded, etc..
If it wasn’t so time consuming, I might have thought about it…LOL!
Good news for Sharks fans is the Springbok management has released
four Sharks – Odwa. The Beast, Ruan Pienaar and Ryan Kanowski – to
play Absa Currie Cup rugby this weekend against the Lions. Five other
Boks including four from WP will also be welcomed back to action in
the Currie Cup contest.
That is good news for the Sharks..not so good for the Lions…
@rugby brain (Comment 21) : awesome!
@robdylan (Comment 23) : For the Sharks, but not that promising for these player’s immediate future with the Boks. Pity.
Great Rob – I am also a big Sharks fan and we need these players back.
WP will have Schalk Brits, Peter Grant, Bolla Conradie and Brian Mujati
– they too need thses players to put some more spark back in their play and Free State have hooker Strauss back for them.
@rugby brain (Comment 25) : He he hee!! Is that how we are to address the man?? 😆
@rugby brain (Comment 21) : ahh there we are! We may salvage some pride after all! 😳 sorry Walter, but now we get a fly half/scrummy in Ruan, a good scrum with Beast and a real eighth man and our Mr. Dependable at FB or wing!
@Sharksmad (Comment 27) : The sun is shining brighter in Durban… 😀
Lions seems very confident…
@robdylan (Comment 29) : I bet they haven’t heard “the news”…
Ruan back for Sharks
Posted in Currie Cup, Springboks by Grant
Ruan Pienaar is one of four Sharks players released by Springbok management to play in the Absa Currie Cup.
He will be joined by Beast Mtawarira, Odwa Ndungane and Ryan Kankowski (pending a medical examination). Pienaar sat on the bench for the two Tri-Nations Tests in Dunedin and Perth, replacing Butch James at flyhalf in the win over the All Blacks and Bryan Habana on the wing on Saturday.
It is not clear where Pienaar will be used in the provincial set-up, but with Frederic Michalak starting at flyhalf and scrumhalf Rory Kockott injured, he could play in his preferred No 9 jersey.
Schalk Brits, Brian Mujati, Bolla Conradie and Peter Grant have been released back to WP, while Adriaan Strauss returns to the Cheetahs.
The Sharks and WP have been in poor form in recent weeks, and the additional resources will add depth to the respective squads.
The Springboks re-assemble next Wednesday for the Test against Argentina on 9 August.
rob i have emailed you this
not sure if you got it our server is messing around
We heard the news…and it’s going to be a close match…hopefully with the Lions getting the win!
@sharks_lover (Comment 32) : thanks – I’m in the middle of a workshop, but I’m sure SOMEONE will get a story up soon 😉
@blackshark (Comment 17) :
How slow is Murray!??!
Kabamba pulled out under him that it looked like Kabamba was the backline player and Murray the forward!??!
You have 2 loose forwards on the bench Robd?
Are you sure you wanna continue with Ndlovu at 7!??! He is def not a ball carrying enforcer loose forward…I think he needs to learn the trade on the ground…get his hands on some ball…
Don’t know much about the rest of the guys…
But agree on Riaan coming in at the centres…he is as big as Murray and actually can run…..
You sure Jordaan is safe enough under the high ball!??!
Great with ball in hand yes…but that is not the most important aspect of fullback play?
And how well does he kick?
Remember how bad JPP was at fullback…everyone jump up above him when contesting for the ball…even the lil scrummy of the Bulls Adams…and if he kicked 20 meters you were lucky…and he was good with ball in hand too from the back!??!
Think Jordaan can cut it?
@Hmmm (Comment 38) : he can’t be worse than old Stef
@robdylan (Comment 39) :
LoL…ok true…
On old Stef…I watched Bokke Saga last week where they were talking of 1998…when Stef came onto the international scene at wing…
He was not a bad try scorer…on a few occasions he had some work to do to score…and he never really stepped vigorously…he merely ran good lines and straightened the line very well when he joined the backline…socred something like 7/8 tries in 8 games or so…
But I guess the problem is the OLD in front of his name….
With the 4 x Bokke back and who back from injury ?
Lets hope Brad, Kocky, Jean Deysel. That’s 7 changes 😯
The Sharks revival has begun. 😈
@Ernie (Comment 42) : Rocket will be out for min 2 weeks still
I didn’t watch the game did Fred do anything?
@molly (Comment 44) :
Nope…and he got injured very early…
@molly (Comment 44) :
He mostly made nonsense, didn’t he?
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 46) : here’s the problem… it was “Bad Fred” who pitched up.
Probably means we’ll have “Good Fred” for the Lions game.
What is the coaching situation at the sharks? Is Plumtree the coach for S14 next year or is Muir coming back? In my opinion the S14 is mch more important than the CC and at this point the coaching situation should be sorted out and the coach should be free to experiment with players preparing for the real competition.
@fyndraai (Comment 48) : Plum will be head coach and will apparently bring in an experienced backline coach
@robdylan (Comment 49) :
With any luck it will be the Valke backline coach
@molly (Comment 44) :
Yeah!!!!
he dissappointed 🙄
@KSA Shark © (Comment 50) :
Dont play with my emotions like that.
We will probably still have Grant Bash-it-up as backline coach.
@Big Fish (Comment 52) : Allistair Coetzee
@robdylan (Comment 47) :
If “Good Fred” plays against us we will put pressure on him until “Bad Fred” comes back…LOL!
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 54) : Who in the Lions team understands the term “pressure”? 🙂 It seems that the euphoria of the weekend gone by have a lasting effect on you.
Somebody should have had the sense to buy Johnny Wilkinson. If only to give us a glimpse of what a flyhalf should be. He is like Frans Steyn in the tackling apartment, too dumb to be afraid, tackles anything that moves. I thought the Lions would have grabbed that golden? oppertunity.
@Silver Fox (Comment 55) :
They did consider him…but decided that he is too injury prone. Doesn’t help to blow the budget on one player and then he sits on the injury list with AP.
@walter van transvaal.co.za (Comment 56) : And now they sit with a budget? Where does he play? 😀
Don’t worry, they will spend the budget…no need to be hasty now, we only need the players for the 2009 S14, we are doing okay in the CC with the current squad.
The Lions are only doing OK beating the Falcons, Boland and Griquas. Outscored by 6-5 in the tries stakes – where it normally counts – against the Griquas last time out your defence looked shaky and you
can be considered rather lucky to take that one. Your
team – the whipping boys of the S14 down the years – lost to both the
Blue Bulls and the Cheethas. Do not be suprised if you get hidings
to the other big union teams, the Sharks and WP who you face next
and you could be lying low on the log again at the halfway mark in the play-offs. It is still early days in the contest but do not be suprised if we have a Sharks vs WP and Blue Bulls vs Cheethas semis
this year. Now your guess is as good as mine at this point in time
for the top fours slots but lets hope to see better rugby in the Currie Cup which the All Blacks-Wallabies are likely to dish up this weekend.
Good morning all.
Was looking at an article in the Business Day yesterday where it said “The irony of their dip in form is that they benefited the most by the return of a few abandoned Springboks after the national training camp in May”???
Who exactly did we get back? Waylon …
@Nessa (Comment 60) : Thats true, I suppose the writer may have been thinking about Jannie Dup and Johann Muller???? Don’t know.
@molly (Comment 61) :
Last year the Bulls whined on and on and on about how many players they were missing to the Bok squad and how it affected their performance – yet the Sharks were missing more than them.
This year it is the Sharks and WP that have the most players missing due to them playing for the Boks – they also have some major injuries like Brad and Rory.
I know it is not an excuse – but I think they should get their facts straight before writing articles like that.
But they didn’t make the training squad, did they? Mucho confuzzo.
@Nessa (Comment 60) :
Hi Nessa,
Well thats what you get from reading sport in a business newspaper. They make the guy that empties the rubbish bins write their sport articles, they also write the daily horoscopes. 😆
@Nessa (Comment 62) : Any idea who wrote it? JJ? Or any WP writer?
Sharks also got BJ Botha back, but thats it.
@Salmonoid (Comment 64) :
That’s for sure. My boss took great pleasure in leaving the paper on my chair with the headline circled!
@molly (Comment 65) :
It was written by Zeena Isaacs. The headline was:
“Sharks, Western Province continue their downward slide”.
As we were top of the log before last week’s game – don’t quite get that one either.
Found the article:
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=BD4A805750
Think they were referring to the Sharks and WP, how many players did WP get back? May also have something to do with the fact that a plenty of players from those provinces were picked in the first place.
@molly (Comment 68) :
Yes, that’s what they are referring to. But we didn’t get many back. We originally got a few back but then they were chosen and left (like JP).
The Bulls got quite a few players back and so did WP.
Here’s the list of released players:
Backs: Ish-maeel Dollie, Louis Ludik, Waylon Murray, Akona Ndungane, Jongi Nowke, Wynand Olivier, Earl Rose and JP Pietersen
Forwards: Schalk Brits, Wian du Preez, Kabamba Floors, Hilton Lobberts, Gerhard Mostert, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Heinke van der Merwe and Johann Muller
So WP got Dollie and Brits back, oooohhh
and Sharks got Waylon, Johann, JPP (???) back, maybe she got confused about Ndugnane
@molly (Comment 70) :
My point exactly! So we technically got 2 players back.
Bulls: Akona, Wynand, Hilton, Chili
Lions: Ludick, Rose, Mostert, Heinke back
Cheetahs: Jongi, Wian, Kabamba
oh, I left off the injured players:
Heini Adams, Jaque Fourie, Zane Kirchner, Wikus van Heerden, Duanne Vermeulen
So thats an extra 2 to Bulls, 1 to Lions and 2 still to recover.
@Nessa (Comment 71) : And WP technically got none back.
Youd expect the writer, after making that claim, would actually list the names of those that returned – well they would if they were journalist and not merely writers who were rehashing what they had read in the Sunday papers.
Anyway its not about which players the unions got back but more about those which they didn’t get back.
whatever happened to responsible journalism? I mean, at least I feel bad about it when I just make stuff up 😉
@robdylan (Comment 75) :
Well – as irritated as I have been this week about the way the Sharks are playing – I can’t stand people that make false accusations! It really gets my blood boiling!
@Nessa (Comment 76) : just take a deep breath 😉
@robdylan (Comment 77) :
😈
@Nessa (Comment 78) : just ignore me… I have woken up drunk 😉
@robdylan (Comment 79) :
😀
@Nessa (Comment 67) :
Zeena is one of my facebook friends..she knows her rugby
I have a feeling Plumtree’s coaching techniques might need closer attention. Word is he’s a mite explosive of nature and inclined to fly off the handle at the least provocation. This would be in stark contrast to Muir who treated the guys as adults.
@Predawn (Comment 82) : interesting…