With a few of The Sharks veterans getting on and our youngsters impressing, we must have a look at where the gaps for the youngsters could open up.
The Sharks men i feel should be moving on in the next few months to 2 years would include Botes, Ndungane, Joubert and who knows about the Ludik vs Viljoen battle, one or both could struggle for game time if Steyn does finally say he’s a Shark, again. We also have to wonder about Redlinghuys, Jannie and Herbst ahead of him, and personally in the long run, i think Dell and Van Dyk are better options going forward.
Youngsters who i think should come in includes, Kleinhans (has a cap or two already), Dell, Van Dyk, Emil Schwarz and Sithole (needs more opportunities). Kleinhans to fill the gap of Botes, Dell to become our number 2 loosehead behind Beast, due to his great mobility for a prop, and his ability as a prop to also steal ball like a flanker, aswell as his obvious leadership abilities; and Van Dyk to challenge Herbst for our number 2 tighthead in the future. Obviously Sithole to fill the gap left by Ndungane. We will see if Emil can comeback just as fast as he was before his nasty injury. The Sharks are his best chance of coming back even better and stronger. He could add something that we havn’t seen at wing for a while in South Africa; he’s like a mix of JPP and Willem Alberts 🙂
Now for the rest, i’m a huge fan of Chris Cloete, he’s a guy that can change a game for you from the number 6 position. Hopefully we get a few of our loosies get Bok call Ups so that we can see him in the Currie Cup. If he can’t get in Currie Cup this year, if i were in charge at The Sharks i would ask if Paul Treu would like to use him for a season or two. I think he would be immense in the sevens. Now flyhalf, Fred Zeilinga is still young, just need him to be more consistent, but he’s got a good mind on him, and kicks with both feet which is very useful. Would like to see Reinach also given an opportunity, as he has been putting in some superb performances, his only weakness is his kicking game, but he can fix it just like Francois Hougaard has dramatically improved his kicking game.
The Future looks bright if The Sharks are wise and know when it is time to move on and use the youngsters. Hopefully we can see some of these guys this year in Currie Cup, and if not Currie Cup in the u/21’s. As always the players are in Durban, want to see some more silverware now 🙂
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Thereis definitely a wealth of talent, but its just how we use them and hopefully not loose them as is often a Sharks speciality. Personally I believe Dell and Van Dyk are way behind Minnie and Schonert in the mix. They have been very good for the XV and deserve a chance to see what they can do at the higher level. Schonert after all went on tour but unfortunately never got a chance. Jordaan got a chance (belately) and look what he has done. I also hope we use Cooper sooner rather than later otherwise we may end up loosing him.
I agree Cloete is great and is a poacher in the Pocock mould. It would be good to see him in the mix shortly.
@snakeslayer (Comment 1) : Yes, Schonert is well ahead of van Dyk, age the difference; they very similar, probably just a personal thing, just think Van Dyk can be a great 3.
I believe Dell is better than Minnie, and if not yet, he will be he’s got the pedigree and he is the closest guy we have at The Sharks currently that can come close to what Beast does for us. Cos taking off Beast and bringing on Chadwick…we lose soo much, IMO.
Cooper will get his chance CC, if he can start throwing consistently, he should overtake Burden. Cos, he scrums better than Burden, and gives us the option to use him as loosehead cover if required. The couple of games i’ve seen him there he has not taken one step back, it looked like he has played loosehead all his life.
Well Spotted Sir Rob 🙂
The Scrumhalf position is worrying me, we havn’t had a scrummie since Ruan that we fully believe in, and even Ruan in his last season at The Sharks was not playing up to standard.
Anybody got more info on Emil Schwarz? Haven’t heard of him.
@ChrisS (Comment 3) : Rob found some info, it sounds like he will be back in August(from injury), great news!!!
He played for Hilton in his school days, and i will say one thing, it was difficult to tackle him. He also played craven week, and impressed me with his physical play and speed for a big man. He was playing for Rovers about a year or so back and got injured; but he starting to get back to fitness now. He’s a one to watch, bout the size of JPP, maybe a tad bigger, but has the mind of Deysel, so he’s gonna be physical.
I guess we are gonna still lose quite a few of theses players, but nice to know there’s plenty of talent!
@Ice (Comment 5) : I hate losing Talent, but i guess we can’t keep all of them; tried hard just to keep it to the ones i think will add real value to The Sharks.
I was a big fan of Navickas 🙂 Bummed when he left.
@JJR (Comment 4) : Thanks! Sounds like the next Dean Hall!! 🙂
@ChrisS (Comment 8) : Yes he’s plays very similar to him; Dean Hall was probably my first favourite Shark, i loved to see that on the wing 🙂
If you want the next best flank in Durban look no further than Bryan Shabangu..completely outplayed his Collegains counterparts last week and is the best flank playing club rugby in KZN at the moment. Kosie Haarhof is also putting his hand up big time! At least Dick Muir gave the club guys a chance…Lwazi is one that really benefitted!
@ChrisS (Comment 8) : Yes very similar, maybe got a bit more pace than Dean; but Hall is definitely a guy you could compare Emil with.
@SheldonK (Comment 9) : Ya, know Harhoff, but probably not better than Kleinhans and Cloete. Not seen Shabangu?; is he the guy who played Blitzbokke 2nd team?
Any news on Lamie’s injury?
@Reynier Jacobs (Comment 12) : Looked just like a bit of concussion, u could see his temple area swell up after that knock. Should be okay, worse senario is that he has fractured something, but i doubt it.
How do u play everyone though??? Its not like we have midweek games like they do in europe where you can have a pool of talent and rotate them for the different competitions…teams are bound to lose players to greener pastures but it comes down to keeping the right players…
@Ice (Comment 5) : GREAT to know that Sharks are breeding some great rugby players….as long as we keep a fair few for ourselves, we can share too 😀
@SheldonK (Comment 9) : Do the “powers that be” even watch club games anymore? I am sure that there must some hidden talent out there.
@shaniboi (Comment 14) : Indeed; i tried to keep my article limited to the players i think should make it for The Sharks, obviously we can’t keep everyone…Sharks don’t get enough credit for what they do for all the Unions in South Africa.
@JJR (Comment 11) : Yeh Shabangu played in the SA Vipers side or Blitbokke 2nd side. Completely outplayed Kleinhans on the weekend. On current form Haarhof is also better than Kleinhans- altho to be fair i think Kleinhans would be a good 7 as [email protected]Just a Fan (Comment 16) : I can guarantee a few of the big names would get a bit embarrassed at club level, there are some serious players there. Altho not everyone can get a chance which is understandable and the guys have to select who they believe is best. Altho having not won the Vodacom Cup since inception means you gotta ask questions…
And so because there isnt a thread for this….how come Rene Ranger, Zac Guilford, Hosea Gear ans Robbie Fruean were all not considered for the All Black training camp? Whoever is considered better than them must be Herculean!
@Just a Fan (Comment 19) : I can understand why Rene Ranger and Zac Guildford have been left out… maybe they haven’t justified their inclusion over their disciplinary problems (Rene cited how many problems + Zac the drunk streaker).
Gear and Fruean are a mystery both have done more than enough to justify inclusion. Maybe they’re a little too specialised in their positions.
@Just a Fan (Comment 19) : They off form, maybe it is also to give them a good wake up call; u need to perform to be selected. Hope Heyneke does something similar; with P.Divvy players were secured a spot no matter how bad they were playing, not in peak physical condition, etc.
John Smit and Habana are examples. Although, I’m happy to see Habana regaining his old form, again. Habana has realised that trying too hard can sometimes make things worse, especially for a backline player. Best is to stay composed and focussed on your job/role in the team, and not run all over the place hoping that your form will magically return 🙂 Must know when and where to direct all your effort and aggression, Habana was wasting all of this trying to attend every ruck like an openside flank 😆
@Butchie34 (Comment 20) : Rene Ranger is playing k*k this year.
@Butchie34 (Comment 20) : Yeah good point on the disciplinary issues – Zac Guildford was IMO the on form Fullback of the S15 last year….Fruean has has a amaZing 😉 year…
@Just a Fan (Comment 23) : Guildford is definitely one of the stand out players, but those drunken binges of his are catching up to him. Maybe there’s also a rehab stint Hansen wants him to go through before he can come back to the All Blacks.
Fruean has had a few great years as well.
@Ben (Comment 22) : Admittedly I haven’t seen him play much this year, but what I have seen has been rather dismal.
@ChrisS (Comment 8) : The next Dean Hall!? Does that then mean that he is big, fast, falls over when coming into contact with anything more than a stiff breeze, and breaks a kneecap and tears ligaments in the process…? 😈
@Just a Fan (Comment 23) : Guilford doesn’t even play Fullback.
@SheldonK (Comment 18) : I’m actually gonna try(send CV 😆 ) and push for a position at The Sharks were i could possibly go watch Club games and Junior games and then report on progress and form of the players…i will see how it goes; doubtful i could get the opportunity to do something like that, but who knows 🙂
@Culling Song (Comment 25) : Nope; when Dean became a Bok, that’s the type of play we talking about 🙂
@Ben (Comment 26) : @Just a Fan (Comment 23) : I could’ve sworn that I remembered Guildford playing one or two games at Fullback at the beginning of last season when Israel Dagg was injured.
@Butchie34 (Comment 29) : I think he did – but it was Israel Dagg I was thinking about for last year though… 😳 I still rate guilford, but maybe , like you said he is being taught a life lesson.
@Just a Fan (Comment 30) : Thought you might have been thinking of Dagg.
@Culling Song (Comment 25) : @Culling Song (Comment 25) : Dean Hall was awesome before he got injured! Had a good game for the Sharks against London Harlequins and then injuries curtailed his career.
@Butchie34 (Comment 20) : Gear has created and scored so many tries this season and Fruean has also been a beast! I felt that they would be shoe-ins for the All Blacks! Wish the Sharks would sign Fruean and SARU would “discover” his SA ancestry
@ChrisS (Comment 33) : Why? We have Jordaaaan! Fruen is incredibly overated, IMO. Strong straight runner…that’s about it, can’t really step, crappy hands and low workrate 🙂
@JJR (comment 2)
9 is a problem, saw Ruan having a blinder in the Heineken semi-final – he is missed. Hopefully some of the youngsters get a chance in the CC.
If I’m not mistaken Schonert only 20 yrs, so hopefully a bright future and not messed around like many others have been.
I agree with the comments regarding talent in club rugby. There are plently of guys playing good rugby (most of them home grown talent) who deserve an opportunity.
@snakeslayer (Comment 35) :
So out of curiosity: you still think that Beast has had his chips?
Surprised no one has mentioned Andre Taylor as a shock exclusion,been in scintillating form since the beginning..can’t believe this
@Ludz (Comment 37) : Was mentioned in an earlier thread
what about gouws prinsloo.great kicker of the ball.
I was at school with Emil 2 grades bellow him, he came to Hilton as a sprinter but started playing rugby, he played 1st team from grade 10, and if im not mistaken made SA U16 he is a huge guy i would say about 110kgs but ran the 100m in about 11s, he was seriously injured the year after leaving school and never expected to play again.
Emil schwarz should be back in august ! Whether or not he’ll still have his speed I am not sure but he can still adapt to centre possibly or 8th man!
@ChriSs emil should be back in august! I have seen recent pictures of him , he doesn’t look to fit unfortunately! But that cann all be sorted out!