Let me start off by saying that I am FAR from an impartial observer here. I DESPERATELY want the Sharks to come to London to play against the Crusaders, for no other reason than the absolutely wonderful stalking opportunities that should present themselves if the entire squad ends up literally on my doorstep for a week!
I’m a big enough Sharks fan, though, to shy away from any suggestion or development that might hamper their prospects in this (or any) competition and with that in mind, I’ve been forced to put aside my selfish motives and try to think objectively about the proposal. We mentioned it as a rumour this morning, by the way, but it has since been confirmed as a real possibility and according to an article on the official Sharks website, a decision will be communicated on Friday, after the game against the Rebels has taken place. Clever move, of course, not to let this speculation become a sideshow that might derail the team’s preparations.
So why should the Sharks come to England, then? I can think of a number of good reasons. For starters, while the Crusaders are already disrupted through having to depart Christchurch (and while we would never intentionally seek to take advantage from such an awful natural disaster) even the most cynical among us would have to concede that Twickenham is far closer to being a neutral venue than anywhere in the Antipodes would be. The counter argument is, of course, that the Sharks would already have been in New Zealand for two weeks and should have acclimatised, so then being forced to make another long plane journey to England would inly serve to increase the travel burden.
We can counter that in two ways, of course. Firstly is the obvious fact that the Crusaders will also have to make the trip and due to their previous match being a day later than the Sharks’, they will have one less day to get used to London. The other argument is slightly subtler – in the past, we regularly see South African teams suffer from serious travel fatigue and homesickness in the last week of a tour, leading to substandard performances often attributed to the dreaded “one foot on the plane syndrome”. I feel that a trip to London at the end of the tour could add a huge amount of excitement and energy to the tour party and the prospect of playing at one of the world’s great stadiums could prove a massive boost to those in the squad who might not quite relish playing at a smaller ground in Nelson or Timaru. Add to that the fact that London itself is an exciting place and that there will be a huge amount of “home support” for the Sharks at Twickenham and it should start to be an attractive prospect for the Sharks, even before any talk of shared gate takings begins.
The other consideration, of course, is that the Sharks need to play the Stormers in a crunch local derby the week after the Crusaders game, whereas their opponents have a week off. This factor alone would tend to suggest that the proposed move would favour the Crusaders more, since they’ll have more time to recover after the whirlwind trip up north. Fact is, the Sharks currently face the prospect of a gruelling journey back from New Zealand, with the associated time change, ahead of that Stormers game and breaking the trip up into two stages, by heading to London first, should, in theory, make things better in that regard. There will, of course, be major jetlag to overcome during the week in London, but given that the Crusaders game is still technically an away game – and one that the Sharks would always have had a less-than-even chance of winning – it would be better to go into THAT game carrying the effects of jet lag than to risk a home loss to the Stormers for the same reason.
What do you think, guys? Am I making sense? Or, at the very least, am I making sensible-enough arguments to justify my horribly biased position on this one?
Come to London, Sharks! You know you wanna!
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London!!
Gonna be a very tough call for the sharks to make.
I have thought about it and i really believe playing in London will be a good thing in most aspects for The Sharks rugby union. What you said Rob is perfect…i agree fully with your points.
If Deysel is fit next week though i would not send him to NZ, rather let him play a Vodacom cup game and Join the team in London…cause going to New Zealand and then 5 days later go to London could be difficult for the body clock to sort out.
London here we come 🙂 If not The Sharks management would have made the best “rugby” dicision which is what we all want. I do think London game will benefit the team and the Union though…lets see what happens.
@s.h.a.r.k.s (Comment 1) : where are you, by the way? Not still up in York, right?
@JJR (Comment 3) : Wollie can come a week early and stay with me 🙂
Don’t like it! There will be plenty of excitement near the end of the season!,for now the sharks must just go about they business no side shows required! Yes boring but logical! I know its not a popular opinion but its the right 1!
I don’t like this,I hope they play in nz somewhere.
Isnt Deysel allready with the Sharks. I think playing in London might reap huge benefits in the long run.
@Poisy (Comment 6) : I’m coming to get you!!!! 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 10) : 😛
@robdylan (Comment 5) : HA HA, just need to show him where the closest GYM and Supplements store is. 🙂
I think that this move would buy the Sharks a lot of goodwill.
Its another ‘Pink jersey’situation, and we know how well the sharks played that day.
I am dreamer and love new ideas! But am with Robbo on this one. Excitement factor yes. Shorter trip home, yes. Making the tour a touch mentally longer, maybe. Ex-pat support yes!! The Union has always has always been inventive, so this fits our brand.
Just heard on SkySport News that this game will not take place in London. The RFU has said this is due to the operational difficulty, particularly the travelling arrangements.
@Rooiwillie (Comment 15) : crap – you’re right… it’s up on their website.
@robdylan (Comment 16) : So its not gonna happen?
@Ben (Comment 17) : it’s not gonna happen 🙁
@robdylan (Comment 18) :
That’s crap!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 19) : telling me 🙁
Careful guys, I’ve got rights on the word ‘crap’!But what a crapper!
@catfish (Comment 21) : bwaaaah… I love a guy with a sense of humour 🙂