Sharks star Ryan Kankowski has no intention of making any future appearances as a flank, having been trialled there for the Springboks this season.
Rugby 365’s Timmy Hancox chatted to the talented eighthman about his Bok career and the Sharks’ Currie Cup campaign.
Kankowski has found himself behind Pierre Spies in the Bok pecking order for the No.8 berth, which prompted the coaches to experiment with him as a flank during the Tri-Nations.
“I’m not a No.7 at all,” Kankowski told rugby365.com.
“It was just team dynamics that saw me there for a Test match, but I think it’s better if I stick to eighthman.
The 24-year-old is raring to go for this weekend’s Currie Cup clash against Western Province, having served a one week suspension for standing on an opponent.
The incident was very unlike Kankowski, who has never had a reputation for dirty play in the past and he admits that it was a moment of “stupidity”.
“It was so stupid and mostly out of frustration. It’s the first time I’ve ever been yellow carded for anything like that and was just stupid,” he explained.
“It’s never nice to miss a game, especially when the guys are playing so well and I was lucky that there was good cover from Keegan Daniel came in and played like a machine at No.8 last week.”
The Sharks are already assured of finishing at the top of the table in the Currie Cup, but the return of the Springboks means there are plenty of big names involved in the clash with WP on Saturday.
“Having the Springboks back is great and the guys are all mates so its like they never left,” Kankowski said.
“I’m looking forward to a big battle with Schalk [Burger] and the boys and hopefully we all fire and make it a good game.
“Even though we are guaranteed a home semifinal, we would never go to Cape Town with any plan other than to win.”
Kankowski believes that having so many excellent loose forwards at the Sharks has helped him to raise his own game and work hard to keep his place in the side.
“There are some great loose forwards here and it pushes us all to be at the top of your game,” he said.
“One bad game can open the door for somebody to take your place, so having strong competition brings the best out of everyone.
“I love it here in Durban and there is no better place to live and play rugby.”
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showpony ‘stomping’ kanko!!
Good to see a player state his case for where he wants to play, none of this, “I’m just happy to be in the team” bullshit.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 2) : yes, kanko knows he is one-dimensional, no need to put him in awkward spots…
You go Kanko! Be what you want to be!
@Megatron (Comment 3) :
Not meeting the target for daily bites? So now you resorting to using inferior bait?
@KSA Shark © (Comment 2) : I fully agree. Too many players getting played out of position and it is not doing their reputations any good when they don’t perform playing out of position.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 5) : Who are you talking to? 🙂
funny, this is what he said @ the time…
“Peter [De Villiers] said to me in Cardiff [in
June] that he wanted to give me a start at
No.7,” Kankowski told the media.
“I don’t care where I play, as long as I have
that green shirt over my head I’m the
happiest man that there is,” he added.
@Megatron (Comment 8) :
That was before having played there. Now that he has, he has stated that he isn’t a 7.
Good on him.
try it once it doesn’t work, ask them not to try it again.
Mega
Of course he doesn’t care where he plays for the Boks. The 75k match fee will calm his conscience! 😉
@wpw (Comment 10) : yeah, greedy monkey 😉
If he doesn,t want to be a NO 7 then he should get stuck in more and they won,t move him it,s simple