As the Currie Cup season approaches, the Sharks find themselves in a real pickle when it comes to fit second row resources. With both Anton Bresler and Pieter-Steph du Toit out injured for the bulk of the season, there’s a mad dash going on in the background to find enough available locks to allow a decent matchday complement for the upcoming campaign.
I remember, a few years ago, writing an article in which I highlighted the superb second row depth that we had coming through in the province, boldly making a prediction that the Sharks surely wouldn’t want for quality lock forwards for several years to come. How, then, have we ended up in the situation where we’ve had to play a borrowed Lion in every Super Rugby game – and currently only have four contracted senior locks on our book, two of whom are injured and a further one who was hastily brought in from Griquas less than a fortnight ago? What’s more, during the course of this season alone we’ve seen one of the few we have, Jandre Marais, announce his decision to leave for France, while there remains considerable doubt about our ability to retain another, Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Where have all the locks gone? How is it that despite our youth programs, our Academy, our vast resources and everything else we have going for us, the Sharks simply cannot seem to attract and retain talent in the second row?
As I’m occasionally wont to do, I’ve decided to dig a little deeper and have compiled a list of virtually every guy who has played in the second row for the Sharks, at any level from under 19 up, over the last five years. Over the course of those five years – the “Plumtree Era”, if you will – 35 different players have been sourced, tried, tested and all bar 8 of them have either been discarded, or have opted to leave of their own volition. Of those 8, half are currently still on junior contracts, so there’s of course no guarantee that any will graduate to become senior team regulars. Of the 27 who are no longer with us, all bar three are still playing rugby. Only Johann Ackermann, AJ Venter and Albert van den Berg have retired, the rest have simply gone.
It’s quite interesting to divide these players into two quite clear “groups”. There are those who were brought in – often at considerable expense – only to move on shortly afterwards. I’m thinking of the likes of Gerhard Mostert and Ross Skeate, who were given chances ahead of local boys, but rather than opting to stay, rather went abroad. We have, of course, lost a few genuine “Sharks men” in their prime – I’m thinking Johann Muller and Steven Sykes – but by far the biggest group of players are those who have been forced to move on after being “found wanting” by the coaching staff. In short, I’ve identified in excess of 20 young locks, all of whom were brought in, groomed and then discarded. Now, I’m not saying for a moment that all of those boys would have made it, but surely if our development processes were working – and if the senior coaches were aligned with those processes and systems – we could surely have turned 5, or even 10, of those young locks into realistic senior options? Bear in mind that the Sharks don’t cast the net particularly widely to begin with, when offering junior contracts, making it all the more vital to get maximum “bang for buck” from each player that is brought in.
Locks at 2m tall or above are, in particular, at a real premium in Sharks country, with only du Toit (2.00m) and Stephan Lewies (2.02m) reaching that height. A lack of height in the lineout is something that is a real concern – and obviously you can’t coach a player to be taller – making it all the more disappointing that more couldn’t be done with the likes of Johan Schoonbee and Myles Tucker (each a whopping 2.06m), or that strong Lithuanian lock Karolis Navickas (2.02m) couldn’t get a look in after under 21 level. These are just a few examples. I’ll leave you to peruse the list below at your leisure and notice how many other provinces and teams seem to be profiting from the Sharks unwillingness to invest in developing second row talent.
| Name | Height | Age | Current location |
| Addo Wessels | 1.96 | 22 | Border |
| Lee Thompson | 1.92 | 24 | Bulls |
| Nqubeko Zulu | 1.94 | 25 | Bulls |
| Francois Robbertse | 1.95 | 24 | Club Rugby |
| Gerrit Fourie | 1.95 | 23 | Club Rugby |
| Nikolai Blignaut | 1.93 | 28 | Club Rugby |
| Paul Sanders | 1.98 | 22 | Club Rugby |
| Gerhard Mostert | 1.99 | 28 | France |
| Jandre Marais | 1.98 | 24 | France |
| Karolis Navickas | 2.02 | 23 | France |
| Ross Skeate | 2.01 | 30 | France |
| Johann Muller | 2 | 33 | Ireland |
| Meyer Swanepoel | 1.98 | 24 | Italy |
| Daniel Adongo | 1.98 | 23 | Kings |
| Steven Sykes | 1.98 | 28 | Kings |
| Kene Okafor | 1.97 | 22 | Leopards |
| Luvo Lusaseni | 1.95 | 24 | Leopards |
| JC Wasserman | 1.98 | 22 | Leopards |
| Johan Schoonbee | 2.06 | 23 | New Zealand |
| AJ Venter | 1.98 | 40 | Retired |
| Albert van den Berg | 2.01 | 39 | Retired |
| Johan Ackermann | 1.96 | 43 | Retired |
| Anton Bresler | 1.98 | 25 | Sharks |
| Edwin Hewitt | 1.96 | 25 | Sharks |
| Peet Marais | 1.98 | 22 | Sharks |
| Pieter-Steph du Toit | 2 | 20 | Sharks |
| Gideon Koegelenberg | 1.99 | 19 | Sharks u19 |
| Dave Fisher | 1.96 | 20 | Sharks u21 |
| Stephan Lewies | 2.02 | 21 | Sharks u21 |
| Wiehan Hay | 1.98 | 21 | Sharks u21 |
| Alistair Hargreaves | 2 | 27 | UK |
| Mike Williams | 1.96 | 21 | UK |
| Johan Snyman | 2 | 27 | Wales |
| Mike Rhodes | 1.96 | 25 | WP |
| Myles Tucker | 2.06 | 20 | WP |
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so, you read that, as a young lock…. are you going to sign for the Sharks?
Marko Wensel for a Sharks Stint, he want to return to SA soon….call the man….naughty as hell, but full of experience and a Good Player….OR here is something new Lets Pick the Best youngster in the Pecking Order…Peet MARAIS…eDWIN hEWITT(LOW WORKRATE) SChoonbee will come back i am sure. AND IF WE ARE REALLY WITH it….lets get this MAN for the Long Run
Quinn Roux
HEIGHT 196 cm
WEIGHT 117 Kg
BIRTH DATE 30 October 1990
Rob, so out of all those, who do you believe had the talent to play at the highest level? And how many of those players have become 1st choice players for their new clubs?
Oh, and by the way, nice article!
@robdylan (Comment 1) : very cool article, but if we do this in all positions I’ll get sick with disgust. Some really Good Players like Rhodes, Wheatley, Adongo(not really), Marias that we lost…Myles Tucker was also a very Good Prospect. Koegelenberg??? by Brother thinks he is the real deal.
Just glad the Plum/van Zyl dictatorship has been dismantled. 😈
Hopefully the above stats will be a thing of the past.
Nikolai Blignaut… He showed a lot of promise when he first stepped up to the senior side. Don’t know why they don’t give him another shot?
Johann Muller was a great player & leader – I’d love the Sharks to sign him back up. Wishful thinking!
If Plum was still there then I’d expect them to announce the signing of Albert van den Berg for the Currie Cup 😆
Great article Rob. Theme applies far beyond locks only.
@Big Fish (Comment 7) : thanks kwagga. And yes.
You can do the same in any position, I guess. This one is just particularly relevant since we’ve now got no fkin locks left
@Bump (Comment 3) : so I think we often look at how few of your players have gone on to really excel elsewhere. It’s possible that we’re missing the point in looking at it that way. Maybe these boys are never going to reach their potential because we simply didn’t do enough with them early enough?
The ones I wish we could have kept – and done more with – are Schoonbee, Snyman, Navickas, Adongo and Williams.
This crisis makes the sale of Hargreaves all the more baffling.
Navickas and Mostert were the biggest losses for me personally…Navickas had so much potential and Mostert would probably be a regular in the Green and Gold right now if he didn’t leave.
@PTAShark (Comment 10) : Lewies will eat hargreaves for breakfast 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 9) : Williams…he would have had a number of Sharks caps by now had he not left. He chose Varsity Cup over Currie Cup/superugby…strange one 😕
@robdylan (Comment 8) : you can add Wouter Moore to that list. Players for Beziers in the ProD2 in France. 2.04m & 120kg. Played for Sharks in 2006/2007 if I remember correctly
Jandre Marais is the biggest lost to the Sharks!!!! He is the real deal and with be a great lock!!!! Mark my words he will play international rugby!!!!!
I have found another. Claude Dry played for the Sharks U21 side in 2006 before heading overseas to France. For the past 3 years he played for Dax in the PROD2. This season he has joined Pau. He is 2.03m and 118kgs. Went to Maritzburg College
@slammerboy (Comment 16) : I recognise the name.
Another that I somehow missed is Nolan Clarke. Can’t remember where he ended up.
quite a few I left out….
Nolan Clark 1.99m 29 years old Boland
Ruahan van Jaarsveldt 2.05m 28 years Italy
Pampoen van Jaarsveldt 1.99m 28 years ???
@robdylan (Comment 17) : Playing for Boland this year.
I know this is not rugby related but history being made, first ever South African to wear the yellow jersey in the tour de france , Darel Impey you legend
coincidently it is the same city Hunter became the first south african to win a stage, Montpellier seems to be a happy hunting ground for SA riders.
BR thanx for that news, hope he can keep the yellow jersey.
No no no. Whats this about maybe losing psdt?
@West Indies Cricket Board (Comment 23) : he’s agent is screaming “show me the money!!!!!!!!!!” 😕 Just hope the Sharks can get him to sign again!!!!!!
@robdylan (Comment 1) : Hell yeah I would.
It seems all one needs on your CV is to say you have had a stint at the Sharks to find a job at a club somewhere out there, regardless of how anonymous you are.
@JD (Comment 24) : Gerrie Maguire does have a nice ring it!
Heard Carlo de Fava who played for Italy might be coming back. Nic Strauss was another but played loose forward more, now in France. What happened to SA Schools locks Jayden Hill and Ricky Schnetler?
What about Wade Elliott and Brendon Groenewald? Where are they?
great article Rob……what about props!!!!scrummies and so on..cannot work put the ethos behind the Sharks…
funny thing Mike Williams captained the U/19 side …..sharks had no room for him…what a brilliant captain and lock..now with Worcester Tigers
@Grasshopper (Comment 28) : Groenewald is a loosie…. makeshift lock at best.
As for Elliot…. I’m not sure how I missed him out. Should be there. Still in the system, right? Under 21s this year?
@robdylan (Comment 31) : ya he’s u21, he was very good in last year’s u21 campaign. I think he’ll play blindside
here’s another one
Ernst Ladendorf 2m 21 years old Border
@Ludz (Comment 32) : According to SA Rugby, Elliot is only 1.92m tall. I don’t know if that’s correct, but if so, that’s not tall enough to play lock at senior level.
@robdylan (Comment 33) : I don’t know how the Sharks let this guy go, he is so good. I watched him for Border u21s, he’s very good. Wade is too short, blindside will do
Its quite simple. Those that went overseas went for money, those playing club rugby are way off the pace, those who went to smaller unions went there cause they wernt going to make it in the senior teams and the four still in the junior ranks at the Sharks are still learning. The two in WP have not done anything – Rhodes is a walking injury and the two in Bulls country – never heard of them either Biggest loss there was probably Mike Williams
@Ludz (Comment 35) : I just checked. Ladendorf and Lewies played the whole under 19 season as a combo in 2011. We actually had a lock combo with an average height of over 2m!
@BBB (Comment 36) : the majority of the guys you’ve written off as worthless are still in their early 20s, which is very young for a lock.
And without being rude, just because you’ve “never heard of” a player doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re useless. I bet most of them have never heard of you either. 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 38) : ha ha I’ve never heard of BBB
You using terminology “worthles” and “useless”, not me! Just not good enough would be more accurate
@BBB (Comment 40) : so buying in no-names from Griquas at 48 hours notice is a better strategy?
Nice article Rob
@robdylan (Comment 37) : ya, they played behind Allan, Franco and Maks
@The Hobbit (Comment 42) : thanks my buddy!
Why not offer Franko Plums` salary until PsdT or Bressler recover?
Or wait till after the relegation match and sign both the losing locks on a temporary basis?
I saw Myles Tucker play when the Sharks u19s were here at Loftus last year.
He was raw but you cannot coach 206cm and 115kg for a 18 year old. What other locks in this country have those stats??? He was mobile & showed aggression when the Bulls came with their cheap shots.
Yeah he is raw, but these guys are teenagers, the point of an academy is to develop them. They’re not the finished product yet.
Now we’re struggling & he was allowed to leave. Very sad
Why do the Sharks lose their locks – simple reason – no investment in Jandre Marais, a local boy. The investment was shown in a very average loan player in Franco v/d Merwe. We then see an average looking Hewitt take the field ahead of the Marais brothers and we wonder why the young locks are giving their middle finger to the Sharks management.
With Plum gone, hopefully this short sightedness will be a thing of the past.
No good crying about spilled milk, just hope they don’t carry on with this by losing PSDT.