“I can’t remember when last a big derby against the Bulls got you five points and I don’t remember when last the Bulls got beaten by four tries,” enthused Sharks coach Jake White told media after his side’s 31-16 triumph at the weekend.
“You’ve got to be pleased with that,” White continued. “The nice thing about it all is that it’s the first week out, we haven’t played as well as we could and yet we still got a bonus point.”
White does feel, though, that there are areas for improvement. “We probably gave away too many penalties and free-kicks when we had ascendancy at scrum time,” he said, “but we back our scrum and those are silly penalties. But I don’t want to sound negative. If those are things we can get right, then we can only get better.”
The coach was particularly pleased with the contribution of new captains Bismarck du Plessis, saying “Bissie is still a young captain and would have taken a lot out of that performance. I thought he handled his composure well and got the players behind him. That fact that in that last play of the game he took it upon himself to call the play, he knew exactly what he wanted to do and we ended up scoring the last try.
“So he’ll get a lot of confidence out of the fact that the players really looked up to him and when it really counted, he called the right play.”
Quotes courtesy of SAPA.
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just wanna say thanks to all fellow Durbanites for the atmosphere and numbers at the game on saturday. Damn it felt like I was back in the 90’s. So proud! JS, Jake, Bismarck and everyone else involved def brought the excitement back to Kings. So proud. And the welcome we gave Matfield. Sheer class. Stay classy San Diego 😀
@West Indies Cricket Board (Comment 1) :
AGREED!! It was great. And not a boo in sight (or sound!) when Matfield came one. OK, there was that one guy who commented how Matfield was ageing when he went from 18 to 24 in 10 minutes upon changing his jersey! But I thought that was pretty sharp… 🙂
So awesome to be really genuinely happy with the Sharks game. They have an excellent platform to build on this season.
Yes, brilliant to see the park full like that. The management and team have pulled out all the stops. Keep winning it will keep filling!
Very warm conditions, first game – MAX POINTS, Backline did well, Jake elevates Steyn, forwards can improve however. Can the sharks please appoint a kicking coach! When last did the sharks start a campaign with max points ? Go boys – One game at a time.
@Observer (Comment 5) : Lambie has the ability, now we just need to work on consistency. Maybe Braam van Straaten as kicking coach?
@Observer (Comment 5) : We definitely need a kicking coach, Lambie needs a lot of help with the finer angles.
Really lots to be pleased about. A bonus point win in February is huge and then a really great, well behaved crowd must make the Sharks management even more happy than it made us fans. Long may it last.
The most telling point for me is that we won the game through our backs rather than the forwards (for a change). This marks a radical departure from the Plumtree ‘smash and bash’ era despite JW’s reputation for pragmatic coaching. While I have no doubt time will prove that JW is still the pragmatic supremo we’re all familiar with, I feel most excited by the fact that he is allowing the players to ‘play what they see’ rather than the predetermined, stereotyped, knuckle-dragging bulls’ style of play.
@Greg (Comment 9) : Jake is a coach that is not afraid to learn. The Chiefs taught him a lesson last year. The make up of the backline bench to me spelt that he wants guys that can make an impact.
@Greg (Comment 9) : Yes, our fwds were a bit off on the day and we still got 5 points. awesomeness! Imagine if they all fire 😈
@GreatSharksays (Comment 10) : Indeed. JW has already intimated as much with the possible switch of Sithole to 13. The possibilities with all the backline options available in 2014 and beyond should be giving all the other S15 coaches nightmares!
@Greg (Comment 9) : I think JW’s time in OZ did his style of rugby wonders. In Oz he had to learn to use the backline, as this has always traditionally been Oz’s strength. Before that he focused mainly on defense and forwards rugby.
Don’t be surprised to see Jake shifting the play-making from backs to forwards depending on the opposition. The SHarks is a 15 man team, the days of 10 man ruggby can finally be given the send-off it deserves – dying a slow and painful death with the bulls. 😈
@FireTheLooser (Comment 13) : The longer the bulls continue to attempt to play the 10 man game the better for their opponents don’t you think? They simply don’t have the halfbacks to implement it now.
@Greg (Comment 14) : I don’t think they have the brains-trust to implement it now or in future. Their boardroom has become a cancerous cesspool of incompetence, with everyone trying to outshine the next in sabotaging the future of bulls rugby.
Had the lions not been given assured SR status, I would have thought that somebody was handing out backhand incentives for the bulls to merge with the lions.
It’s the old SA inability to build upon another man’s success.
Must say it looks like Jakes decision to have the guys train in the most humid and hot times of the day is paying off. We’ve never really used Durbs’ humidity as an advantage before but now seem to be embracing it.
In previous years the humidity has been a leveller and a lot of talk before the game was about how the humidity evens the playing field. The guys looked far more comfortable than the Bulls with the “slimy” conditions.
@gregkaos (Comment 16) : Maybe it also had something to do with the ‘magic’ spray that the Brumbies used when they played us last year? 😆
Smit is doing some wonderful things, parking was hard to come by but that is great, hopefully we can start filling our stadium and turn into a dreaded fortress for opponents this season.
“The nice thing about it all is that it’s the first week out, we haven’t played as well as we could and yet we still got a bonus point.”
I suspect that really sums up most Sharksworlder’s sentiments. The future is looking bright indeed.
This makes me want to move to Durban.
Did I miss something? Just read that Allen Dell has signed with Edinburgh. When did this happen?
I know Cobus had a good game but I can’t help feeling that the Sharks looked most dangerous when Charl was on, there just seemed to be more rhythm and interlinking between forwards and backs when Charl was on.
Still feel Cobus needs to work on his speed of clearing the ball from rucks…
Any thoughts?
@vanmartin (Comment 21) : I see the cat is out of the bag, then.
@robdylan (Comment 23) : I cant see him cracking the Edinburgh match day side yet so guess like at the Sharks he will have to wait his turn. Also there seems to be some displeasure amongst Edinburgh fans about the number of foreigners in the side so hope he gets a decent reception
@SheldonK (Comment 24) : at least he’s Scottish qualified though
@robdylan (Comment 23) : Yeah, read it on Planet Rugby or somewhere. Wish Allen the best but still sad about the loss.
@robdylan (Comment 25) : Oh really, i thought there may be a prospect of him coming back after he has learnt his trade but not if he is scottish qualified.
@MikeVS (Comment 22) : We are definitely more fluid with McLeod but boy was Cobus on fire on Saturday..if Cobus can work on his core scrumhalf skills he will be a Bok. He needs to be more decisive, quicker to the breakdown so that the ball doesn’t rest, improve his kicking and distribution.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 28) : Agreed – I am sure Jake will be upskilling him.
Anyone see the news on superxv.com regarding Matt Stevens joining up with the Sharks from the end of Saracens season?
@robdylan (Comment 25) : Rob I thought that after the SARU tweaks last year to eligibility requirements anyone who represents SA at U21 level becomes ineligible to play for another country. Did I completely misunderstand that rule change?
I really like the combination of Cobus and Charl. When they replace each other their different styles subtly change the pace and flow of the game which in turn causes problems for opposing teams as they struggle to adapt.
@robdylan (Comment 25) : Rob do you know what JW’s plans are with Keegan?? I mean last year he was poor, but he is a great player!!
Would be good to see minimal changes for this week..I would like to see McLeod rotate with Cobus and Deysel rotate with Alberts.
If all goes to plan and we have control of the game at the 60min mark, I would love to see what all the rave was about Sithole at 13!!!
@Greg (Comment 30) : That’s how I understand it as well.