Sharksworld has learned that Stefan Terblanche will skipper the Sharks in this year’s ABSA Currie Cup.
The 35-year-old lost his position at fullback during the Super 14 to the phenomenally-talented Patrick Lambie. He was pressed into service as a makeshift outside centre, yet never quite looked the part.
It is unsure how John Plumtree will shoehorn his captain, who on form and merit probably doesn’t deserve a spot, into the Sharks starting fifteen.
In the words of Forrest Gump, “that’s all I got to say about that”.
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i am jumping around like a little girl in a barbie display at this wonderful news.
WTF!!! I mean really WTF! Im at a loss and that doesnt happen often.
anyone interested in starting a new rugby team at moses mabhida. kzn needs a good rugby team.
Hope Stef proves you wrong although i do see your point.
@try time (Comment 1) :
I can imagine…pink your favourite colour, not so!! 😈
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 2) : don’t tell me you never expected it. it was on the cards a month ago. no one wanted to believe it though.
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 5) : it is far more fashionable than black and white right now. 😆
Okay – I am off to go and eat my lunch…one lettuce leaf and a slice of tomoato…Yummy!!
@try time (Comment 6) : ja, as predictable as a heart attack this one…
Kind of why I’m not more upset.
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 8) : mmm sounds yummy. iceberg lettuce?
Go Stef!
Who were the other candidates though??
Hargreaves?? Botes?? 🙄
@robdylan (Comment 9) : it has made watching the sharks a lot easier though. in the past they had a great team of players that all deserved spots in the boks so you felt their pain at poor ref decisions etc. i don’t even get bothered when stefan kicks a certain try away anymore, i just watch it like i would a soap. no connection just stare and relax the brain.
@wpw (Comment 12) : Pat Cilliers
@wpw (Comment 12) : nothing wrong with hargreaves, john smit isn’t going to be at the sharks forever. might as well blood the future.
@try time (Comment 15) :
Problem is would Hargreaves have been first choice now that Skeate has been signed??
I don’t think so!!
🙄
We definitely need some experience to setlle the youngsters, but rather not hand the armband to a guy whose ONLY real contribution is experience. Surely when the other seniors get back it should be a return to Happy Acres retirement village for the Oom?
I’m kind of in the same boat as TT now: sense and expectations dulled as far as Sharks rugby goes. I watch out of loyalty, not excitement. At least the Bokke are playing.
@wpw (Comment 16) : good point. but take stefan and john smit out and who is the captain. you cannot buy captains. good captains come through the ranks of a union. so handing it to stef is a waste. pat is probably the only real choice remaining.
I’ve recently started to think that Pat might be a better cc captain
@Big Fish (Comment 17) : amen brother. 😆
Not unexpected at all….why the fuss???
Not that I’m happy about it but I don’t really see an alternative because Hargreaves is certainly not assured of his place and neither is Pat Cilliers once the Beast and Jannie returns
terblanche is a quota!!!! 😈
@try time (Comment 18) :
Surely it must go to a player who is first choice in his position even when the Springboks return.
Who might that player be??
Botes?? Alberts?? Deysel??
@Pokkel (Comment 21) : Agreed Pokkel.
Jeez, you guys are really all negative these days… Are you really all this negative about the Sharks or are you just climbing on the “whinging band-wagon”? 👿
@wpw (Comment 23) : Hey WES… I’m a 2-star today 😛
@wpw (Comment 23) : botes takes strain with the mantle, although he does deserve it. deysel is an option. alberts has not done his time yet and he doesn’t look like the leader type.
@CS (Comment 24) : no just getting it all out so we can say we told you so later. and we don’t mind if the sharks prove us wrong. it is a win win situation.
@CS (Comment 24) : Yes, until they show us it’s time to get off 😈
@Megatron (Comment 22) : yup he is a quota the talent andre joubert was.
are we being pessimistic or realist? the sharks super 14 performance is backing up what we are saying. so if the facts are negative is it pessimism?
@Megatron (Comment 22) : Your village called…told me they would pay to keep the idiot out…
All this means is that one of our most successful CC captains ever will continue to lead the team.
Seems like a good thing to me.
here is my bit of positivity. when stefan has been captain the weakest player in the sharks attack (stefan) plays well. so maybe that is what plum is thinking. that is a sign of a good captain when he can lift the weakest players in the team to play at another level. 😆
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 31) : how are my babies?
I have no problem with Stef being captain, I do however wish that the Sharks would think ahead for once. Who will be captain during the Super 15? Will ST still be playing or is this possibly his last season? The time has come to build… build a young leader, build a team for the future. Stop procrastinating and put measures in place to ensure the future success of the Sharks.
The only question is who? Who will be almost ensured of a starting spot once the Boks return? If only Rory could keep his cool.
@try time (Comment 33) : I don’t think Stefan is any worse at Centre than Strauss or Swanepoel… the problem’s not with Stefan, it’s that we don’t have anyone better, other than a bunch of green-horns…and at least he brings experience to the team
@Megatron (Comment 34) : They allowed you to BREED??? Sheesh, now we know why some mammals eat their babies…your mom was surely not hungry at the time.. 😈
@Farlington (Comment 35) : You don’t have to be Captain to be build as a leader… the best may to build a leader is in the shadow of another. Let Hargreaves, or whoever, spend the CC as vice-captain groomed under Stefan (the most senior player we have at the moment)… and they’ll be ready for Super 15.
@CS (Comment 38) : Actually, I wouldn’t say anyone in our current squad is Super 15 “Captain” material… so the actual problem is that we have no-one to replace Smit and Muller, not that we’re not blooding Hargreaves
@Farlington (Comment 35) : Aren’t the boks only returning for the semifinal phase? I don’t see the problem here
Maybe we should poach Chilliboy from the Bulls and make him Captain for the Super 15… he is the next best hooker after John Smit afterall, and the next Bok-captain 🙄
Headline should read – Sharks commit Seppuku 😈
@Greg (Comment 40) : Referring to long term. The problem is not during the CC but rather next year in the S15. Not so sure if Stef will be around next year.
🙁 🙁 🙁
What a sad, sad day for Sharks Rugby.
@CS (Comment 38) : Could work, but will being vice captain in the CC be enough to be captain in the S15 the next season? Not sure… I fear that The Sharks did not plan ahead.
@Farlington (Comment 45) : Which seems to be a recurring theme every year.
@CS (Comment 41) : Yeah and then we can also sign Earl Rose and then our flyhalf problems will be solved 😆
@CS (Comment 36) : i agree. problem in the backline is a combination of players. and they all shouldn’t be on the field at once. but all have good skills. stefan has brilliant awareness on the park and is positionally excellent. but he has the inability to make a good decision on attack. he must have the world record for butchering certain tries with a brainfart. remember the brainfart that lost the sharks the semi final against the lions. that was one of his classics. swannie is a solid defender and a good player, but he has the inability to find a gap. strauss has the biggest heart, but lacks greatly in skills. rory has great courage, but his passing is shocking and he tries too much by himself. jp has so much natural talent, but doesn’t have any vision. and this is where the problems lie. having all these players on the field at once is a disaster. yet you have bashford praising a player that isn’t even in the squad on sharksrugby. so why not get that guy on the field even if he has to play center.
@Farlington (Comment 43) : Yeah, I know, just having a bit of fun.
Seriously, though, you guys really need to look at Pat Cilliers, he will be your first choice in this years CC, and very likely the first choice in next years S15.
this is the backline i want to see. just to see if it could be worse than what we have now. charl pat lionel meyer richards odwa ludik. they can’t be worse than what we currently have, can they?
@Greg (Comment 40) : Damn so busy fuming about some of the decisions that I missed what you were getting at. 😆 Luckily the lions will not be playing for a semi spot so we should be safe. 😆
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 37) : you’re the mother of my kids dumbo! 😡
@Farlington (Comment 51) : Looks like the only top spot the sharks and Lions will be competing for is in the stupid management decisions log ❗
@Megatron (Comment 52) : wtf are you on captain piranha. that is serious medication.
@Megatron (Comment 52) : I am blonde not stupid! Dream on, Dude!!
@Greg (Comment 53) : I sometimes wonder how these guys can actually get away with mis-management. The Lions are struggeling almost purely because of management. And The Sharks are not far behind.
@Farlington (Comment 56) : Almost purely ❓
@50 mark richards defence didn’t look on par against the valke, so I would not play him at 13, the boys that did play centres that day was on fire, I would have rory, steve,mvovo, jenner,stef,luddik and pat
@willa (Comment 58) : yeah i wasn’t sure of richards defence. so he is the opposite of swannie. so stuck in the same boat.
Not unexpected so I can’t be too upset but Plum seriously needs to start thinking a bit out the box, the conservative approach is killing the team.
@Ice Queen of the Blog (Comment 55) : same difference 😀
I don’t have a problem with Stefan as Captain.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 62) : ditto
I have a problem with stefan in the starting team
@robdylan (Comment 64) : You must remember, he is being shoved into holes here, I am sure I we did not have Lambo, he would have done a decent job on FB. Let him settle in one position, I am sure it will make a difference. How would you play if you were shunted between 3 different positions?
I think Mark would make a great addition to the backline attack, not only on attack but also defensively. He is extremely fast and quick off the mark, is agile and able to find amazing gaps. He has a great hand off and off loads the ball amzingly. Yes maybe he had 1 or 2 issues with his defense against the falke, however have you seen all his other games, his defensive work has saved countless tries. Lets not be unreasonable and throw comments around about players with out the correct stats or taking a players performance from 1 night out of context.
So basically what Plum is saying is that we have to watch Oom Stef play 13 for the CC… FFS. And that’s also all I have to say about that.
Stefan MORE than held his own at S14 playing 13, so he will shine at CC level which is a big step down. By the time Adi is with us again we won’t need Stefan and someone else could be made captain.
@Farlington (Comment 47) : 👿 no earl rose find s one else 👿
well we as fans are just going to hv to get used to it Captain Smit is off maybe for good because maybe going to snoils and Oupa Stef well let him be captain for a while because i think he hasn’t much of many years left anyway and then we just hv to get use to hv young guys on the field 😆 and a new captain
GO SHARKS GO 
so Oupa Stef enjoy while it last
Rob,
What’s the story with Lionel Mapoe? Both the Sharks and Cheetahs have him listed in their squads!!
@dawj (Comment 71) : oh my we are going to shear him
eeeaaahhhh 😎
@goose697 (Comment 66) : i am with you. don’t get your tail feathers up. that is why i suggested trying him at centre where we desperately need backup.
@chaz (Comment 70) : So by that logic the Sharks won’t have a captain for next years S14…
@dawj (Comment 71) : my info is that we will win that argument cos the cheetahs have a kak legal team
@goose697 (Comment 66) : did anyone do that? I thought we were all behind Richards 100%…
@lostfish (Comment 74) : is it not the S15 nx year and well who ever is the Captain is the Captain then but Oupa Stef is getting old but still has some years left for the game but nt much 😉
think stef will be a great captain and 13 this year. mark my words your all going to say sorry after the season. we don’t have a 13 at the moment and it only make sense that stef plays there. who would you play rob? andries strauss is not an option. he hasn’t done anything at all these years that he has been with us. must post him to the lions where murray is
Sure, on the face of it, you could say that this is a CC side of new yiungster, who need a guy like Stefan to add some experience. And yes, there are only a few glaring gaps – centre and flyhalf in particular.
So why the fuss? Cos this is the same damn situation we have been in for 3 seasons! At some point we should have brought the youngsters through, but we just keep falling back on the likes of useless imports and has-beens and never-was.
In other words, there seems to be be no pattern of devlopment here – we are no better then we were last year. Probably worse off.
@butchboy (Comment 78) : hey Butchie are you new and if welcome to SW 😆
@butchboy (Comment 78) : well, I would play Stemmet or Lindeque in the 13 position, Stef is NOT a centre!!!
@chaz (Comment 77) : My bad, Super 15. I think this is Stef’s last year.
@lostfish (Comment 82) : 😉 u c 😆 so we hv to at some stage get use to all these new guys thats what we wanted but not some many coming through as we wanted to 😕
@butchboy (Comment 78) : I see every game as 80 minutes worth of time in which to learn something. Playing Stef at 13 just because we can’t think of anything better to do with him does not, to my mind, represent any sort of meaningful learning experience, either for the player or the team.
Put Jean Stemmet, Piet Lindeque, hell, even Mark Richards there and let the player learn by playing. At least that way we have a guy that has a season of Currie Cup under his belt that we can use in the Super 15, even if it’s just as backup to a guy like Adi…
If the guy isn’t up to it at Currie Cup level, you will probably see that after you’ve given him a run of 5 games to establish himself… but if you never pick him, you’ll never know.
ha this says alot about sharks rugby at the moment ,don,t even know what to say anymore
@Big Fish (Comment 79) : We’re worse off in the backline, but our forward quality is the best it’s been in a long time. With everyone fit we’ve probably got the best pack in the CC.
So we’re basically back to winning heaps of first phase and turnover ball with nothing (or very little) to show for it, because our backline is more than a little pedestrian.
I hope those of us who are shitting bricks at the make-up of our squad are wrong, and they surprise the hell out of us, but I don’t think so.
In the words of Forest Gump “Life is like a box of chocolates….yo never know what your getting” Amen Mr Gump, amen. You should see life in the Sharks setup. There are TWO BOXES OF CHOCOLATES Mr. Gump. And thats all i’ve got to say about that.
If Lambie is the first choice 15 does that mean Ludik’s future lies at wing?? What happens WHEN JP and Odwa returns?? And what about Mapoe??
If plumtree doesn,t get to the finals he should get fired ,it would be good if rudolf went as well (seems like b.v.z is c.e.o 4 life so heis not going anywhere) but I,ll take plumtree leaving as a soncilidation
@zvision10 (Comment 89) : AMEN 😆
@wpw (Comment 88) : good ❓
I like Oom Stef, but he is superannuated for this position. Should have been Botes. I don’t think the mantle would encumber him.
On an unrelated note; Tim Whitehead – should the Sharks try sign him? Would we have a look in?
@MerckZ (Comment 92) :
Ohh please. We have enough talent that just need to get opportunities and game time. See how Skeate gets played before the likes of Hargs and Bresler. Or even Rhodes if you want to. We are becoming like the bergbokke.
@MerckZ (Comment 92) :
Whitehead is contracted to WP. 🙄
Honestly sometimes I think the Lions supporters have reason to feel the way they do about the Sharks!!
@wpw (Comment 94) : Amen to that 👿 👿
@wpw (Comment 94) : Remind us who poached the following Lions players: jantjes, schalk britz, januarie, fourie, anton van zyl?
@Baldrick (Comment 96) : I feel a shark/wp fight coming on ❗ cool 😆 😆
@Greg (Comment 97) : not at all, just a laughable case of the pot calling the kettle black. 😳