It’s the quarter-final in Wellington with all to play for.
Can the Sharks do it again? Let’s find out!
Kick-off is at 09h35 SA time. Go Sharks!
Hurricanes – 15 James Marshall, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Woodward, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Michael Fatialofa, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles (c), 1 Loni Uhila.
Subs: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Mike Kainga, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Vince Aso, 23 Julian Savea.
Sharks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Garth April, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Beast Mtawarira (c).
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Tera Mtembu, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Odwa Ndungane.
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Rainy weather….let’s hope the Sharks won’t fall into a kicking trap.
Play with confidence, play with pride – Go Sharks!
Ok, I’ll be the first. GO SHARKS! I don’t care about injuries, CEOs, head coaches, DORs or players leaving. Just give it all you’ve got!
Make us proud. Good luck.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 1) : Ok second 🙂
…and we have the palatable studio team today – let’s hope our semi and final remains in NZ, this morning team has a very low irritation factor 😈
@FireTheLooser (Comment 5) : Butch backs the Sharks, Gcqobani backs the Sharks…let’s do this thing! 😀
Good luck, men!
@pastorshark (Comment 6) : Clearly this is the SS team, looking after their investment – Mallet is probably a mole planted by the sabc. 🙂
Jeepers, the weather is not pleasant over there!!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 8) : Kakaka
Major wind, so kicking will be really tough! Maybe this wind will blow our kicks right…
Our men take the field…
Small crowd…
Thought Afrikaans commentary would save me from kiwi bias, but now I’m being subjected to a horse-voiced toks vd Linde 🙄
Canes join the Sharks on the field…
Here we go!
Here we go…
Willie takes the high ball and is wrapped up…good retention…
Sharks have an early advantage…
Back for the penalty and a very good start for the Sharks!
The Sharks retained possession for a good minute and went in hard at the breakdown. April can take a shot…
Ball has to be held in this howling wind…
Great start. Just about every ball carrier made it over the advantage line.
April strikes it well but the wind shunts it well wide…WOW!
April needed to start that about 10m wide of the right hand upright to get it over! Wow!
Sharks very physical on defence and then a nice break by Willie!
Ohhhh…Pietersen misses Barrett on his own line…that could have been big trouble if JP had taken Barrett down!
Nice maul Sharks…and they get another penalty…in this weather it might be a good option to go for the 5m lineout!
And that is what the Sharks do…right call I think!
Unfortunately the Sharks can’t repeat their mauling success and the Canes turn it over…damn…
Must use opportunities like that!
Sharks lose the ball on attack! But Holahola kicks the turnover ball out on the full!
Two mauls, two turnovers. We need to be better than this.
Three very good lineouts. And now a much better maul…
Very well done by Willie there and the Sharks have another penalty!
This time April will have a shot again…tough conditions, but right call from this position…
Why not go for the corner????
This time April gives it a sharp tonk and the wind can’t move it enough and he misses to the right…
@pastorshark (Comment 36) : Our lineouts are working great!
This time Lewies knocks it in the lineout and the Canes get a scrum 35m out…
Hahaha talked too soon 😀
Jeepers! That should have been a penalty Sharks…the Canes lock playing Lewies’ arm! Jackson missed that…
Now the Canes have an advantage!
And they get the penalty smack bang in front…easiest kick you could wish for…
@pastorshark (Comment 42) : Missed that
Poorreffing at the lineone has cost us possesion and now possibly 3 points
I suppose April a bit unlucky to be penalised there…
Canes take the lead…3-0…
3-0 after 14 minutes…
The conditions are absolutely atrocious…sheets of rain!
@pastorshark (Comment 47) : Ian Jones certainly agrees
And Coenie folds again
The Canes get the scrum penalty…Coenie penalised…sigh…
The Sharks not behind the last man’s feet at that ruck and the Canes have an advantage…
Canes right on our line…and they score…
Not very good in the air from JP
I don’t know why so many people on here rates Jackson as a ref – he misses so much.
Great cross kick by Barrett, JPP rubbish under it, flaps at it and the Canes pounce…
The conversion misses and it is 8-0 after 18 minutes…
Tough road back from here…
From an attacking scrum on their 10m to a try for them. Oy vey
Barrett is bloody good tonight
A great kick by Barrett puts the Sharks on the defensive inside their 22 again!
Someone should remind the Canes about the conditions
Claassens knocks it and we are in trouble again…
@Bokhoring (Comment 62) : Barrett’s always bloody good.
Not very clever there by the Sharks…in these conditions you take that down, tighten it and clear…
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 64) : With you on this, looks like the weather isn’t bothering them at all!
Easy as pie for the Canes.
Great try by Marshall…8, 9, 15…try…and poor defense by the Sharks!
Too easy. This is going to become ugly if we don’t hit back immediately
13-0 Canes. Game over I reckon
That was so easy to see are we blind now
That conversion was impossible, but it is 13-0 after 22 minutes.
Come on boys…show some pride now…
The wind is terrible making kicking impossible.
The Sharks get a penalty and kick towards the corner…lineout 10m out…
Sharks had to tell the ref noone was out of 10
The Sharks maul was rampant but collapses…Jackson says the Sharks fell over their own man? I’d like to see that again…
Patience boys
Sharks on the line…Beast scores but the TMO will check for a double movement…
Must be a try
How does theref call that held up
That won’t be allowed…
That is going to be a penalty Canes
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 51) : I meant Justin Marshall
Penalty Canes…damn…
Fuck you ref
Nothing working for the Sharks
@John (Comment 88) : Come on, it was the right call…
Great tackle by le Roux on Savea…
Jeez Ardie Savea has wheels!
Just great counter attack by the Canes and they now have a lineout 5m out. These guys are just much better than we are…
Sharks do not have the skills to play in this weather
Idiot !!!!
Great vision by Jordaan and the Sharks almost score…Pietersen just can’t control his kick…
Pity JPP’s kick just too hard
13-0 after 28 minutes…
Don”t kick!!!! Pass inside ffs!!!
Now Jackson spots the “inside the 10″…and the Canes get a penalty…
Marginal penalties all going to the Canes now
The Canes create from next to nothing…we build opportunities but can’t get anywhere near converting them…sigh!
Great steal by Oosthuizen on defence!!
Good steal by Ettas
This time the Canes lose their own ball at the lineout…
That turnover just showed the difference between the sides. If it had gone wide straight away we had plenty of men over, but Claasens let Marais bash it up and we lost the advantage.
Jeepers the wind is crazy…did you see that kick?
How is that not a high tackle on April?
The Sharks knock it on again…
@pastorshark (Comment 107) : I am worries for us in the second half
@Bokhoring (Comment 110) : Worried
The poles are having a good old wobble!
@pastorshark (Comment 109) : Shocking ball skills by the Sharks compared to the Canes. I thought the conditions might be a leveller, but alas….
Esterhuizen is off…Odwa on…Jordaan 12, JP 13…
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 113) : Yeah…sigh…
@Bokhoring (Comment 110) : We have better wind in the second half
We win that kicking battle and we have a lineout 40m out…
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 116) : Playing with wind behind us now and still losing the kicking battle
The Sharks have an advantage…and get the penalty…
We have to score now…
Fuck off with these kak little kicks man!!!!!! 👿 👿 👿
And take a shot at goal?
@pastorshark (Comment 119) : I would not even risk kicking for poles here.
Missed the kick…
@Bokhoring (Comment 123) : Poles are wobbling from side to side
@Bokhoring (Comment 123) : Yeah, I was questioning the decision!
That was a poor decision by Beast…and he just looks confused…come on, captain. Get it together! And get your men together! Come on!!!!
Canes looks very very close to being offside
@Bokhoring (Comment 118) : We”re playing against the wind. It’s blowing from right side to left diagonally across the field, according to the commentators
And they are bok starters
Our Bok back three are just jaaging aan kak
WTF SHARKS! Slow defence in our 22…JPP’s kick charged down and the Canes ALMOST score…
Living dangerously
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 131) :
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 129) : I must be listening to different commentators. Three Canes kicks have been blown backwards.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 129) : The wind is all over the place…on the near side it looks to be in our favour and on the far side in the Canes favour and swirly and gusty in between…
@pastorshark (Comment 127) : Beast isn’t a captain. How Gold still persists with him is questionable.
@pastorshark (Comment 136) : But that will be in our 22 where the wind is really crazy
We are absolutely woefull…crumbling under the pressure of the occasion, and completely incapable of adapting.
Let’s hope the coaches can school the kids on how they need to adapt, in order to gain advantage from our penalties…
We started so good .. looks like the Sharks got bored and started thinking of tonights braai and beer
@Bokhoring (Comment 135) : You”re right. I missed who they were talking about.
The way Barrett is kicking one would thing they have it behind their backs.
We had some chances but our execution has been very poor…and the Canes just create stuff out of stuff all!
@pastorshark (Comment 127) : Beast is no captain.
@Bokhoring (Comment 138) : I’m not disagreeing with you… 😆
@John (Comment 140) : Didn’t get the reward for their hard work (9 points from normally kickable penalties), and gave up.
We need to play for tries…there is no penalty fallback in this game
@Ben (Comment 143) : Unfortunately what I am seeing seems to confirm that…sigh…
@FireTheLooser (Comment 139) : Reaching the QF is exceeding my expectation for the year – we just need to accept that.
The gap in quality between April and Barrett is huge. We are being schooled today.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 141) : And the Kiwis still have another Barrett coming of age.
@Ben (Comment 148) : Barrett has a lot more experience and April is a rookie at this level.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 145) : need to stop with the shit kicks ball in hand we run over them their defence is not that good we just nod really testing it
@pastorshark (Comment 146) : It really pisses me off that Gold is persisting with him as captain. Beast used to be one of my favourite players. Not so much anymore.
@John (Comment 151) : But then we can’t catch the ball either
@Bokhoring (Comment 150) : Definitely. We are missing Lambie big time.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 145) : Exactly. That”s pathetic. We had the go forward in their 22, most of the possession and the lineouts were working, yet we took the kicking option.
@Bokhoring (Comment 147) : I guess so….but still backed the boys to at least take their chances.
We could have been ahead, save for stupid mistakes inside their half…and sadly the ref is mostly blind to the Canes standing offside on defense.
@Ben (Comment 152) : Not just his captaincy, but his general play as well. He takes ages to pick and drive, goes down easily and hasn’t really done much other than scrum of late.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 155) : Captain my captain, where on this cold wet field do I find my captain?
@Bokhoring (Comment 153) : also true cant even bloody catch anymore
Plum must be enjoying payback.
@John (Comment 151) : Agreed, short passes, keep it close, keep it boring, but most of all, hold on to possession.
That counts as an excellent kick by Claasens
@FireTheLooser (Comment 158) : At flank
Canes overthrow and Barrett still beats the Sharks to the ball
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 157) : I agree.
Nice scrum by the Sharks at the start of the second half…
If only we had a captain, he could question him why that offside player wasn’t penalised.
They will keep kicking they see we cant kick now but still they kick … gameplan … kick kick .. 5 vs 1 and we will kick
Good news is VDWALT is having a cracker. Ettiene a good one and even JPP…..bad is Mvovo, Coenie, Beast, Classes and sorry but April is so out of his depth against big fast Kiwi opposition
Until the inevitable Canes score we are going to be camped in our 22. Hopefully that next score is just a penalty.
Coles off, new hooker and Keegan immediately steals the lineout…
@Bokhoring (Comment 170) : Good steal by Lewies
So … we make ground with a run … then we stil kick haha where is the brain power
Why a Kiwi ref in NZ…arghhh
Come on, men!
Marais you dumbass!!!!!!
Forwards keep it tight and make plenty of yards…but finally give away a penalty at the breakdown. Marais off his feet! Agggg!!!
@pastorshark (Comment 171) : Sorry KD.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 176) : That was pretty kak!
Sigh…brilliant try by the Canes…
Yes kick more !!!! You idiots !!!!!
Ponderous play by the Sharks ends with a woer woer kick and the Canes get the ball, run hard, show some skills and score…as easy as you like…
Game over…
…maybe next year. :Roll:
Pereira runs over a feeble tackle from Claasens and Canes scores. Stupid kick chase – 3 running at the receiver and leaves the others open.
All Class vs All Average
Barret nails a beauty of a kick…20-0 after 48 minutes…
The Sharks have been at school tonight…and the Deputy Principal, Professor Plum, must be super chuffed at how much they are learning…or having to learn…
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 186) : Average would be a compliment
Beast has to be the poorest captain I’ve ever seen for the Sharks. I think he’s a wonderful player and a gentleman, but not a good leader.
Ffs!!
Another super try by the Canes…good night nurse…
Yes kick more
Le Roux kicking has not been up to world class fullback standards at all the past few years.
April, time to return to club rugby.
Funken beyond poor now. I though at least we could tackle.
A kick by the Sharks…followed by a ball in hand counter by the Canes…only one winner!
Get Curwin Bosch on at 10. Nothing left to lose.
Must say I’m really enjoying the way the Canes are playing, despite our team being on the receiving end.
Another great Barrett kick!
Barrett kicks a conversion between poles going all over the place.
Bring on bosch
27-0 after 51 minutes…this is already ugly…and has the potential of becoming butt ugly!!!
I see a massacre coming. I’ll stop watching. There is zero defense. Bosch on for April please lets see what he can do.
@Ben (Comment 198) : Yes please…
The Sharks have by far the worst playoff score difference record of all SR sides, which won’t improve with this performance.
Bash, bash, bash…I concede that that is all we can do…but unfortunately bash, bash, bash is followed by knock every time…
Thank fuck knows who that I’m not worried about drinking before 10 at all. Can’t look at this shit sober. We haven’t looked like scoring in 54mins.
@pastorshark (Comment 205) : Obliged. 😎
Bosch on for April
This team inspires no love.
Just go home already. This is pointless and nothing but further embarrassment for SA rugby
Well, there is Bosch…
Sharks don’t have any idea what to do with the ball. Sharks needs to take the team out of the Currie Cup and make their practise their skills 18 hours a day for the next 6 months.
Pointless aimless playing by sharks.
@Apollo (Comment 211) : That’s a bit harsh…
A bridge too far, we need decent backup at fly half…April has been found out here, and we’ve now been forced to throw a 19 year old kid into the deep end in an effort to save some face.
@pastorshark (Comment 213) : We have nothing to.lose might as well test him now.
April having a complete mare of a game
@Apollo (Comment 211) : I would rather say incredible sadness.
If not for Faf, SA wouldn’t have one scrummie in the World Top 10
Coenie penalised in the scrum again…
Well, lets admit it, April has no BMT whatsoever, Barret on the other hand has been the reason the Canes went into HT with the lead regardless of the conditions, keeping us pinned down in our own half.
We need new players … new coach and new name … hmmm what about the gold fishes
Sharks going backwards at a rapid pace and then lose the ball…
@FireTheLooser (Comment 217) : So much for the people crying about lambie going straight in after his injury. Lambie is light years ahead of April. Even fresh from injury.
Savea pushes Beast off the ball at a ruck. Kiwi forwards power levels at another level.
Sharks finally figured out that the ref is blind to the offside line, themselves now ignoring it and getting away with it.
You just can’t play rugby without a decent halfback pairing.
@coolfusion (Comment 226) : Lambie wouldn’t have made too much of a difference to the outcome
@coolfusion (Comment 226) : He hasn’t passed his concussion test, so still injured anyway even if he was cleared to play.
Perenara scores…
I am done !! Before i destroy my TV
Another rebuild year in 2017? We’ve been rebuilding since John smit started. When will we settle?
Flood gates open. 32-0 is an incredible score under these conditions.
Go shower boys… 😳
Teichman’s first task. Get rid of Gary Gold. Have heard and seen too much when it comes to Gary.
Absolutely woefull, a professional team that have given up – now getting schooled.
Only the end of the third quarter and it is 34-0… 😯
We could have given the wc spot to the bulls they would have been better
This is beyond embarrassing. To concede this many tries in those conditions is utterly kak.
Every single bad thing we’ve done this year has culminated into 80 mins of the worst sharks rugby for 20 years
@GreatSharksays (Comment 237) : Yes, please.
Wow, what a kick by Bosch… 😯
I hoped that this game would atleast be competitive, but once again we are rolling over like we did against the Lions . Ridiculous.
@Quintin (Comment 231) : Not the point the point was people crying because he stepped straight in after April had 1 or 2 good games. Remember the comments?
Teich has an impossible job to rebuild this franchise with it seems little cash in the bank.
Good kick but we should retain and attack. Kicks won’t help now.
@Bokhoring (Comment 247) : That’s what the Lions did.
This is disgusting. I’m sorry but most of the Sharks should hang their heads in shame.
It’s fun for team number 1 to be winning like this, but to team number 8….I’d rather have the Sharks not play in the quarter final, than watch them losing like this.
K A K !
Fucking disgusted by the way we are losing, if we lost a well contested game, I would still be happy about making the playoffs, but this doesn’t justify us being here at all.
The only bloke who looks like he’s trying is Philip
What a bunch of pathetic clowns, both on the field and off.
..|.. anyone who has a problem with that
At least the new front row it’s giving us a good show.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 230) : Really Lambie on 10 and Bosch on 15. I recon there would have been a difference. Doesn’t mean anything today but come CC I’m going to bet those two will shape things.
Vacancy: Captain, fly half.
Missing: pride, right wing, direction.
Please contact GT if interested or found.
So if we stay on 0, we will the first team ever to draw a blank in a Super Rugby playoff game…please score, boys…
Bosch already doing much better than April did.
@Ben (Comment 249) : I think the relegation shocked people at the Lions in action. Will the powers that be from the board, CEO, coaches down to the players realize something is seriously wrong and pull together to start doing something about it?
Bosch kicking game would have made a major difference in the first half.
@Quintin (Comment 260) : Agreed. For me April just played himself into second place after Bosch for 15 when Pat comes back.
34-0 and still we kick.
@coolfusion (Comment 257) : Only talking today
@coolfusion (Comment 264) : Marshall can”t believe it either
@pastorshark (Comment 259) : Another negative record for us. Don’t we now lead the scoreboard on negative records? Surely there is a trophy for that.
@coolfusion (Comment 267) : There is: a shiny new CEO 😉
Canes 9 passes to players hitting the ball at speed, Sharks 9 passes to stationary players.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 266) : Yeah commentators are litterally laughing while asking why are we kicking. It’s embarrassing to say the least.
These guys just toying with us now
That pissed me off just now! Willie quick tapping and looking for someone to pass to, and none of the Sharks seem to give a shit!
I’m so fricken mad at the tactics and lack of commitment. …Gold must go ffs
A sole glimmer of light: Curwin Bosch, clearly appreciating the honour of representing the Sharks in a quarter final….something none of the other players have done.
This team just wants to hit the showers now. Shocking attitude on the field now.
@Bokhoring (Comment 269) : That”s been Sharks rugby for years and years.
Nope Bosch in April out.
@Sharkfinn (Comment 273) : It’s time to start from scratch.
Losing the match is completely acceptable, BUT losing your pride and willingness to give it your all is something that I will never accept…and it is the problem at the core of this team.
That last summed it all up perfectly… 😯
Ungerer is kak. Why did we allow Wright to leave?
When the losing side is trying to waste time you know…
no one even interested, that just disgusts me into not even wanting to be a supporter
FULL TIME
HURRICANES 41 – 0 SHARKS
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 278) : I would fire all the coaches and all the players, and then allow them the opportunity to convince me to rehire them.
JP Pietersen with a smile on his face after the last Canes try. What a disgrace.
No amount of travel, and no amount of rain should ever be blamed for a team losing like this ….a total lack of pride.
Ungerar you C$#&!
Clueless when they have ball in hand. Kicking every thing away. Really hope Gary had a 2 year contract so that we don’t pay him to leave. To think that Teichman was one of the ex players that wanted Mitchell to replace Jake. Just heard a killer line…the move from Jake to Gold was as good as moving from HD to black and white tv. Backward move that has taken us back to the stone ages.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 279) : Well done. You summed it up perfectly. They have no heart. No balls!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 279) : That is the only problem I had with this game, not that we lost, but the way we took it laying down, not giving an absolute shit about playing for pride in the jersey. This will go down as one of the worst playoff games ever, and theres nothing we can do about that now.
Well done Hurricanes. Class performance.
@Ben (Comment 286) : Yup after today it’s an all NZ semi and final.
That was the worst ever performance I have ever seen in a Sharks jersey. There has been worse scores, teams with even less skill, but never have I ever seen such a gutless display of rugby.
@Bokhoring (Comment 285) : Exactly my thought when I wrote start from scratch.
After a week of a fair few 18-22hour work days, I sacrificed my one morning of sleeping in to watch this game…thanks guys, clearly I’m willing to sacrifice far more than the pretenders getting paid to wear the jersey of the team that I support.
On a farm. No dstv to watch the game. Just enough to see the score…
@FireTheLooser (Comment 296) : I don’t think I am even going to bother watching the Currie Cup after the shite that was served up.
Players should be deducted 1k from their salaries for every aimless kick.
Ag fuck this young team crap excuse, Beast. The worst players were all experienced Boks!
And didnt miss anything… although the first 5 comments sounded great. Had a couple of opportunities in the first 15 min.
We are all pissed off. Just remember we had the worst draw of any team ever in the competition. The boys were dead on their feet e weeks ago. We reached the quarters. We can only get better from this performance
This sort of gutless performances makes it very hard to support the Sharks. I don’t mind losing but losing while showing absolutely no passion is unacceptable. Go Lions!
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 300) : I was going to say “awful captain”. But Beast doesn’t deserve to be called a captain.
@Ben (Comment 299) : Realistically though players should be reviewed and benched for that shit. But does Gary ever review and learn?
Fitzpatrick hitting the nail on its head. Coaching and management.
Could see the embarrassment on Beasts face in the captains talk afterwards, even admitted the performance was embarrassing. Won’t be able to change it now boet! Hope the younger players have learnt from this, as it would be crucial going forward to remember that if you don’t give everything to achieve your goal you will be embarrassed in the professional game. I hope this is a turning point in our game, if not, we only have more embarrassment lying ahead of us.
@jdolivier (Comment 302) : Well, it certainly can’t get any worse! 🙄 😆
@jdolivier (Comment 302) : Anyone can get better from 0. That’s not saying much.
@jdolivier (Comment 302) : At least I can’t see us doing any worse but with the Sharks you just never know.
Looks like the sharks play great the first 10 – 15 min. But if they dont get reward, and a call goes against them, they completely loose interest for the remaining 60 min. Same thing against sunwolves.
Go Lions, go Stormers.
Looking at the try replays now and it’s pathetic how poor Mvovo, Claasens, JPP, Beast and Willie have been on defense. Must be the inexperience 🙄
@coolfusion (Comment 305) : At the start of the game the commentators said something along the lines of Gary Gold feels that keeping possession is key to winning the game and the Hurricanes coach said that territory will be key.
Gary was clearly bluffing. 🙄
And we thought the Kings would embarrass us!
The sharks should kick their feet up and put this one behind them. Rob d Preez now have a couple extra days to prep for CC. And I will be supporting them again!, and again, and again….
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 313) : Mvovo is so overrated by Sharks fans.
At half time we were 13 /0 and April had missed 3 kicks.
Dropping Gold won’t even help. Last time the Sharks had to find a coach we had to go to Checkers to find one. Nobody else was interested in the job.
@coolfusion (Comment 309) : After the draw against the bulls we all thought season over. With a non-existent coach a cowboy ceo and a captain that should not have been chosen, we still made the quarters.
@The hound (Comment 318) : And his goal kicking wasn’t even the worst aspect of his game today.
@Ben (Comment 317) : So is Jpp and willie
@Bokhoring (Comment 319) : Yeah, we need to find a decent coach before we sack Gold.
Wow Gold is clueless…never succeeded anywhere. A fund should be set up to raise funds to pay this guy out. It’s actually not a bad idea. Who would contribute?
@Ben (Comment 321) : Bosch looked like a deer in headlights. Hopefully this game doesn’t damage his confidence
@jdolivier (Comment 322) : I disagree. I’m not saying JPP and Wille are much better than Mvovo, but Mvovo is way more overrated by Sharks fans.
@Ben (Comment 321) : April was horrible, but so was Claasens. One thing we got right was our line outs, and Ninja was looking like the only guy interested in playing.
How this country produced Brain Surgeons is beyond me… we have the most brainless rugby players and coaches in the world ( … on second thought maybe our surgeons practice on our rugby players…)
@jdolivier (Comment 325) : Are you a defense attorney? April looked far worse.
Hurricanes coach even showing pitty for us in the post match interview 🙄
@Quintin (Comment 327) : Phillip always gives his all. Quickly becoming one of my favourite players. Wears his heart on his sleeve.
@Ben (Comment 331) : The guys not interested in playing should fuck off, they are an embarrassment. I don’t care what pedigree they have, if they show up with such a shitty attitude they should leave.
@Quintin (Comment 330) : He did spend some time at the Sharks.
@Bokhoring (Comment 333) : I know, doesn’t make it less embarrassing though.
@Quintin (Comment 334) : It was genuine pity! 😳
@Ben (Comment 329) : Forensic auditor. Started off in law ????. Just a question. What happens when you throw gold into a shark tank……..it sinks
@The hound (Comment 318) : Kings also managed to stay close to their opponents, and the got murdered in the final 20mins.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 335) : Yes it was, thats why I’m saying it is indeed one of the most embarrassing performances in the history of playoffs, and we can do nothing about that.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 337) :I buy what you say but were in it with a chance till half time,but once that first try was scored after half time we went to pieces,nobody on the field to hold that team together.No captain no leadership
It still amazes me how we can have a below average season and only make the QF by virtue of a shit conference system. And that people/coach believe that if we win one game we can make the play offs while being shit and TOTALLY not deserve to be there! What exactly is the rationale behind such thought. Is it purely sponsor related? I think SAs rugby setup as a whole is at a dire point in time.
@The hound (Comment 339) : I would say we were out of it after they denied Beasts try, he went complaining to the ref like a sore loser in front of the rest of the team who would have taken no confidence from that, he is no captain. He should have taken it on the chin and get on with the game!
Gary Gold’s job was to get the players prepared, and also to assemble a team where the right player is in the right position. You have to ask the question: with Gold at the helm, will decision-making in play, tactical play, substitutions and depth be sorted out? I think we all the know the answer to that question…I’m not saying he should necessarily be dropped immediately but without a doubt a more astute coach (or DoR if you prefer) needs to be identified and recruited. Would the following proposals be that radical? Philip van der Walt as captain; Dick Muir to lend a hand at coaching in the interim to see if perhaps Plumtree could be tempted back, or another Kiwi coach who has carte blanche to assemble a coaching team…Blackadder, Robbie Deans, throw some money at Swys maybe…things cannot continue as they are; a team could be built around our current loosies (Keegan, du Preez, the other du Preez, and Ninja), keep ahold of Bosch, get some new wings, let Willie go his own way, hold on to Lewies and Ettas. Get some butt-kicking centres from somewhere.
From your lips to gods ears!
I don’t think a match report is in order – the less said about this Sharks “performance” the better.
Maybe we need to call up Donald Trump and ask what it takes to win…he took on 16 opponents in the primaries, and came out on top when nobody gave him a realistic chance…now one more opponent to go; that adds up to 18, a parallel with the Super Rugby competition. It’s not just money, it’s something more fundamental.
@SeanJeff (Comment 345) : Balls?
@SeanJeff (Comment 345) : Most of our players do not have the necessary skill set to play at this level. The gap (from tackling kicking to handling) between these two teams were huge tonight. That was while we still actually bothered to actually try to play.
Once you have the basics of rugby in place, then you can go and play whatever plan suits the conditions or opposition.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 346) : Maybe 🙂
@SeanJeff (Comment 342) : I have been highlighting our centre problem for years now. Nothing happens. The Cheetahs at one go got all three up and coming centres in the country whilst we sat and folded our arms. Could have been a cash problem
..don’t know. We need centres and wings.
There is nothing more I can say to bemoan the state of KZN rugby. From the turd-like performance today, to the equally useless Currie-Cup team to our hopeless Craven week youngsters. I wish Gary Teichmann the best of luck in trying to sort this out, I sincerely do.
Somehow he has to find the ingredients in getting winning rugby back at all levels. Somehow he has to find good people like Hans Scriba, Swys De Bruyn and all the great personnel that were so callously let go by the old regime. Somehow he has to make Durban an attractive place to play for the youngsters in other provinces and he has to make the Shark Tank a feared destination for visiting teams. Good luck, Gary. If anyone can turn it around it would be a man who was proud to wear the jersey, like you.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 349) : Even with cash our procurement jas always been lethargic at best. Do you think we couldn’t have bought watermeyer hall the other Adriaanse velleman if we only half awake and quick on the ball. They weren’t the most expensive guys around. But we did manage to get retirees lose jackpot without one game. I hope Teichman proves that smith was one of our biggest mistakes and why we are still staring down a rebuild years later.
@The Great Couch Shark (Comment 350) : We’ve never had winning teams at all levels.
VC team of the past have always sucked….u/21 and u/19 rugby have only ever had sporadic success….Craven week success or failure doesn’t matter, as we very rarely contract any of those players…
GT will have to invent success across the age group levels….and superstar recruitment is not a financially viable option for success either.
I guess GT’s biggest challenge is to identify and contract top quality coaches across the board, and ensure player recruitment is done wisely in order to ensure the SR team is filled with successful players from our successful age group teams.
One thing is for sure, the Sharks need to create a talent conveyor belt to offset player losses.
@coolfusion (Comment 351) : I have been having this Smit debate with my mates for months now. I think Smit has done a great job, he did manage to get 2 high profile coaches in Brendan and Jake. Won a CC in his first year in charge. Increased sponsorship and got some nice player signings. His hand was forced with GG. Should have been brave though and moved GG and Everitt to somewhere else. So we learn. CC is now our focus.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 353) : Gold is slow to learn. Coenie still ahead of Adriaanse. No matter what. No real captain after he saw beast can’t cut it daniel would have been better. Chilli should be starting. Does he not review games? The curry cup win was not his doing. Best thing he did was Omar and du preez. Come CC I hope he relegates April to bench for bosch and Lambie but he will probably not. We have Centre problem and scrumhalf depth. Wonder if Reinach will be ready?
@GreatSharksays (Comment 353) : Lost Plum.Got Jake. lost many players because of Jake. lost Jake and appointed Gold because he painted himself in a corner. On the whole a loss.
Teichman has a big job on his hands. If he turns things around in year one he will be a legend. If he doesn’t it’s understandable. As for Gold I don’t think we will attract a good coach now so maybe one of these days we can see dupreez being promoted ahead of Gold which will be the second time it’s happened to Gold so that will speak volumes.
@coolfusion (Comment 355) : Let’s be fair, those players would have left regardless. Euro was calling.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 357) : Actually it was in the media how many left because they didn’t want to work with Jake. Be that as it may if we had stopped there and certain arrogant players didn’t help Jake leave we would have ended on a positive but we didn’t we lost him and the arrogant guys left regardless. At least if Jake got enough support we would have had a rebuild without the ego’s and have been in a better spot. A chain of bad events or decisions.
I’m done with lamenting now though. Let’s hope (cause it’s all we can do) Teichman can clean up. I suspect if he does start asessing his options we could well see Du Preez being moved up?
@coolfusion (Comment 358) : And then a number of the ones that supposedly were behind Jake’s resignation ended up playing for him in France?
@Bokhoring (Comment 360) : Ja ironic I agree. Players should not have that much power. Lions are proof of that. Now that there is a real boss they look good. Gary is not that boss.
@coolfusion (Comment 359) : The only worry I have about du Preez being made head coach at this stage is that he has been part of the current setup and it does not look like he made much difference. The only member of the coaching unit that clearly had an impact was Mouneimne.
@Bokhoring (Comment 362) : But consider the alternative which is Gold. Can Rob do worse? He went away form his home union and made a difference at the leopards. My money would rather be on him. We are not attractive at the moment to attract a big name so I say he would be a good risk.
@coolfusion (Comment 363) : Also I don’t know how often Rob is being overruled by Gary at the moment so even if he wanted to does have the authority he needs? A good test would be to give him carte blanche over the CC.
@Bokhoring (Comment 362) : Just goes to show that the strongest defense in the competition means shit if almost everything else is rubbish.
@coolfusion (Comment 363) : I do know beggars can’t be choosers, so Gold to DOR and Rob as head coach is probably the best we can hope for.
I did expect a bit more from du Preez to be honest. The Sharks have two skill / attack coaches, but you really would not guessed that based on the players’ poor attacking skills and the lack of improvement in skills over the season. We have a second choice scrumhalf that can hardly pass, players that struggle under the high ball, continuous passing behind the man, poor ball retention, ….
The only area that I can think of that really improved is the line out.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 365) : Not so strong today though. We let an awful lot through.
@coolfusion (Comment 363) : …and Pukke, put everything in place to where they won the VC this year. (Mokoena coached them this year).
As far as I remember, Du Preez will be head coach of CC, Gold will be doing DoR’ing, unless Teichman decides differently.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 368) : Best thing Teichman can do is test his bench strength. I.e. give du preez a run. We already know what Gary can ( or can’t) do.
@Bokhoring (Comment 366) : Big issue for both Gold and Du Preez was not being able to pick their assistants.
@coolfusion (Comment 369) : Du Preez needs his own assistants, Small seemed ecstatic to hear Teichman will be CEO, so the two of them reigniting their partnership would make me happy.
Today is basically the result by which Smit’s entire tenure as CEO will be judged…
@coolfusion (Comment 367) : When it really counted. Typical of the Sharks, actually. Our playoff record, counting scores up to where we’ve advanced, is sobering:
Final 1996 – Lost to Blues 12–45
Semi 1997 – Lost to Blues 36–55
Semi 1998 – Lost to Crusaders 32–36
Final 2001 – Lost to Brumbies 6–36
Final 2007 – Lost to Bulls 19-20
Semi 2008 – Lost to Waratahs 13–28
QF 2011 – Lost to Crusaders 8–36
Final 2012 – Lost to Chiefs 6–37
Semi 2014 – Lost to Crusaders 6-38
QF 2016 – Lost to Hurricanes 0-41
Average loss score in playoffs and finals 17-34. Opponents have, on average, been twice as good when it came to the push.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 373) : Proof that the Sharks have as yet not really been as successful as we’d like to think – neither BvZ, nor Smit has been able to turn the Sharks into a trophy winning machine.
Not sure many ceo’s exist that would be able of achieving this….GT will have to achieve something very special to turn this franchise into more than just competitive.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 373) : those are pretty scary stats. Most of these losses were away games, which illustrates how critically important home ground advantage is; and how poor we are at achieving it. Seems we’re great at scraping through to the knockouts and terrible when we show up on the day.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 373) : Yup we are masters of the semi final. Chokers of note.
I really hope the Lions don’t follow our example. FFS as if the 10 year unbeaten record by the kiwis isn’t enough don’t let them start the same crap with SR.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 374) : True. The expectations are way above historical reality, but that’s just a side effect of loving this bloody team.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 378) : Many people sat we have gone past our golden age. But aside from CC victory. When did we really have a golden age?
@The Great Couch Shark (Comment 375) : And then we get the golden home ground opportunity in 2007….
@coolfusion (Comment 364) : I’m for a proper head coach that Rob can assist. If we don’t have the cash then promoting Rob and bringing in someone like Jimmy Stonehouse can work. We
still need to replace Everitt though.
Good luck to the Lions.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 378) : We’ve clearly fallen into the trap of measuring success by how many play-offs we’ve reached…
@FireTheLooser (Comment 383) : A wooden spoon accolade….
One thing GT can fix instantly – players not willing to fully commit to the Sharks should not be allowed to play SR…so, if you want to play in Japan, you stay there or enjoy your holiday during their off season.
How many of the guys on one of these duel contracts, ends up leaving the Sharks fulltime in any case?
Could be one of the major reasons the team is not unified, half the guys stroll into the SR squad, with the guys busting their gut during preseason being dropped for the glory boys.
Well done Lions,I think we are lucky that we didn’t play them at Ellis Park today think we would have got a bigger hiding than we got in Wellington.
Beautiful by the Lions. My hat is off to them. This is what a SR final contender should look like. Pure class.
@The hound (Comment 386) : Agreed. Looked every bit the part.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 385) : Like
@coolfusion (Comment 387) : They sure paid a massive price to finally get here….easy to look at the final product and say that we want our team to play like that, but are we willing to pay the price? ( The way we react after a humiliating loss, tells me that we’re not)
@FireTheLooser (Comment 390) : … hopefully our road consists of a few shortcuts. 😉
@FireTheLooser (Comment 390) : Yup. I’m happy for them. But I would like to see how we pick ourselves up after today.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 391) : How?
@FireTheLooser (Comment 390) : It depends, though. Do you see a flicker of hope for success in the way we played today or most of the season? At least the Lions seemed to have taken a leap of faith to play the NZ way and it took them a while, but they are getting there. The Sharks persist with a dumbass, typical SA kick and defend “plan” with zero creativity on attack and zero Plan B.
That Combrinck try when Mapoe cut the line was genius. When last did a Sharks backline manage anything close from first phase?
Well played Lions…
Moving on to the Stormers: what sort of idiots create so much smoke BEFORE the kickoff. Daft! And I hate it when a crowd boos like this during kicks…we didn’t see that elsewhere…
@coolfusion (Comment 393) : Only possible if our problems does not run as deep as those originally at the root of the Lions demise.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 394) : Our ethos will have to change, the win-at-any-cost culture has brought us to our current impasse.
Most successful teams seem to place far more emphasis on team and player well-being/character than game plan.
Lions got the game plan side under Mitchell, but they were a far cry from the team we now see under Ackerman….these players also suffered with the union when things were tough, and they didn’t give up on each other back then.
I believe their success now has far more to do with that, than the style they’re playing.
Streamers, welcome to the NZ conference.
Chiefs stretching away from the Stormers…3 tries to 1 in 25 minutes makes it 7-24…
Just about all Chiefs here…
7-27 after 28 minutes…
@pastorshark (Comment 400) : Let’s not forget, this is the team that drew with the Sunwolves.
Chiefs score their fourth…
From this, I would surmise that the Sharks are actually SA’s second best team…more an indictment on SA rugby, than the Sharks being much good. Also shows how poor the bulls actually are, not getting to third from this very weak conference.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 403) : At this rate, the Stormers are going to concede as many in one half at home as the Sharks did in the whole disastrous game this morning!!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 405) : That actually all sounds about right…
I suppose at least the Stormers are scoring…
The Chiefs are just waaaaay to good for the Stormers…wow, just look at that backline!!
14-39 after 45 minutes…
Iam so loving this Chiefs team.
This game strangely makes me feel slightly better about the Sharks loss…
@The hound (Comment 411) : Beautiful to watch…just makes you want to adopt them!
@pastorshark (Comment 413) : Yes Stormers are playing the totally wrong game,They are being exposed as a really shit team.
The biggest difference is that the Chiefs first instincts to pass to a guy in a better position,Stormers only ever pass at last resort.
Will the streamers remain the darlings of AC come Bok selection?
Wisdom dictates: select most of the Lions, cherrie pick the rest from the 3 pretender unions, and contract Ackerman and Swys as lead consultants.
Still 5 minutes to go and the stands are almost empty. The crowd has been streaming out for minutes…
Ai, SA rugby…
50 up for the Chiefs…this thumping at home is at least as bad as the Sharks capitulation this morning. Thank the pope for the Lions…
21-53…
Oh my word!!! Just magic from Damien McKenzie!!!! WOW…
60 points at home,sorry Nick Mallett,Sharks are not the worst S.A team today.
Not one of the FIVE Stormers could take down the replacement scrummy…
@The hound (Comment 421) :
@pastorshark (Comment 418) : To me, it’s far worse…Sharks had to travel and face kiwi no.1.
Streamers at home, against a travelled no.4 kiwi team, and conceded 60!! points.
Final score: 21-60!!
@The hound (Comment 421) : Let’s see whether Mallet musters the same amount of vitriol agaonst his beloved streamers, as he always seem to reserve for the Sharks.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 426) : His comment today was that the Sharks didn’t deserve 0.
@The hound (Comment 427) : Lovely, so another foot-in-mouth dish for Mallet to feast on tonight….he’s probably too thick to realise this, but it’s always fun when he’s made to look stupid.
Streamers didn’t deserve to be on the rugby field.
….and as expected, a shame faced Mallet with zero vitriol for his beloved team.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 429) : …yet still finds time to disrespect the Sharks.
Dear GT, please do us fans (and yourself) a huge favour, turn the Sharks around, and give Mallet a stinking pile of Shut-the-heck-up!!!!
So both Sharks and Stormers lost by 41 point margins, although I’m hard pressed to judge which team resembles more a stinking pile of horse excrement.
I think it’s a tie! Congratulations Robbie Fleck and Gary Gold, you two share the crown of The Biggest Losers.
I wonder.if Marius louw will make the step up to the CC team. Still worried about centers. I think Lambie and Bosch will make a killer flyhalf and fullback set. I also wonder if keegan will stay for CC.
I think SA has lost respect for the one competition that can prepare us for international SR the CC.
@coolfusion (Comment 434) : SA rugby has lost respect full stop.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 435) : Money acquisition through brown nosing to the government seem to be the prime objective of saru these days.
I guess Dan du Preez will be the one Du Preez not having nightmares involving Kiwi’s tonight.
Jeepers, imagine taking 60 at your home ground. 😳
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 438) : Proves that being a Sharks supporter is not so terrible after all….I won’t say we’re the second best team in SA, but definitely the least rubbish.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 439) : Yep, I imagine PSdT was thinking along the lines of “glad I left the Sharks for the Stormers” at about 11.30 this morning.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 440) : Ooh, a fleeting thought by about 19:15 tonight…sucks to be him.
Chump-of-the-Season Finalists:
Kan-nie Oosthuizen
Limp Willie
JayPanese Petersen
Oldwa Ndungane
Garth April-fool
Michael Out-Claassens
Sore Jordaan
In contrast, the Hold-Your-Head-High finalists:
Philip vd Walt
Du Preez twins
Keegan Daniel
Adriaanse
Franco Marais
Conclusion: forwards are in a good space, backline not so much…
Well that was a shit game. And to the people who say we got lucky to get to the playoffs due to the conference system, fuck off. We had a crap draw, brutal tour, played the Nz teams and finished 8th on points on combined log. We deserved to be there. And honestly, firing gold with a year left on his contract when we just had to recapitalise? Paying him a few million cancellation is just stupid. Let teich settle, sort out the behind the scenes stuff, maybe give Rob a run as head coach and let GG deal with overall strategy.
It was a horrid year, but we made it to the knockouts. So im pretty happy with the return. The guys were done after 60 minutes, out on their feet after a long year and only arriving in Nz on the Thursday before the match was braindead planning from sanzaar.
@Dragnipur (Comment 443) : Sharks should have finished above streamers and brumbles…
This competition needs a 2 tier system: top 8 plays home and away against each other, bottom 8 plays shield competition.
Keep the play-offs competitive. Semi finals for top tier, semi finals for bottom tier.
@Dragnipur (Comment 443) : I agree firing Gold and paying him out a golden handshake would be stupid ,and he is never going to do the decent thing and resign.
Teich must do the game of rugby a favour and keep Gold employed but away fro anything to do with rugby in Natal.The toilets at KP are in a sorry state and there are also broken seats that need replacing , a host of menial tasks that can utilise his talents and keep him away from rugby,
@FireTheLooser (Comment 436) : Yes. Last night I decided to end my Sky sub, which I have almost solely to watch SA rugby. I’ve had it with the unprofessionalism, incompetence, political interference and lack of vision.
@The hound (Comment 445) : 😆
I still feel Sharks Rugby is on the up and we going to have a solid 4-5 year period, provided we hang on to our talent. I remember last year, a very young Sharks u21 side beat the Lions twice, the Lions pack happened to contain players such as Dillon Smit, Ruan Ackermann and Cyle Brink and in the backs was a certain Johan Janse Van Rensburg, all now playing super rugby and shining.
My point is this, this years u21 group 95% the same as last years are very powerful and can go on to become a force in Sharks rugby – I can tell you this right now, the following players are going to become Sharks Greats, again, if we keep them – Schramm, J Du Toit, I Radebe, M Louw and then the guys who have already stepped up – H Andrews, Both Twins, T Du Toit and then lets see how Bosch progresses – these kids named above are the real deal and all need to be looked after well, not one of these players mentioned should be lost by the Sharks, they will become greats in the black and white, mark my words.
@Vonno13 (Comment 448) : And Nkosi. He looks like a typical NZ winger.
@Vonno13 (Comment 448) : I have to say, Bosch was the difference yesterday between the Sharks getting hammered by 50+. His kicking game is THE key ingredient to CC success this year, and he bring tons of energy.
I do agree with you, minor tweaks from GT will see the Sharks become a force. The Sharks sucker inside of me can’t wait for CC to start.
@Vonno13 (Comment 448) : @Hulk (Comment 449) : @FireTheLooser (Comment 450) : my major concern is losing top players like Jordaan. It is getting harder to keep top players and every year is almost a rebuilding of the team.
@JD (Comment 451) : Which is why focus has to shift away from individuals to team – big reason behind Lions success: team made the players, not the players that made the team.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 452) : Sorry to say but this will not happen with our all or nothing coach. He will not build depth by always fielding the strongest players no matter how inconsequential the opponent or game may be. He is either way too afraid of a loss or too stupid to understand contingency planning.
Rob, any chance of a list of all the okes leaving? Might as Well start building our dream cc team.
15. Curwin
14. Sitole
13. Am?
12. Esterhuizen
11. Mvovo
10. Pat
9. Reinach?
8. Vd Walt
7. Du preez
6. Du preez
5. Lewies
4. Botha
3. Adriaanse
2. Chilli
1. Thomas the tank.
So what was the final score?
@coolfusion (Comment 453) : From what I hear, Gold will be DoR’ing from here on out, with du Preez taking the head coach reigns for CC (and hopefully SR next year).
@FireTheLooser (Comment 456) : I hope your hearing is correct!!!! Maybe now sign Small………….. James Small!!!
@Dragnipur (Comment 454) : I’m sure Mvovo and Pat will be with Bokke.
@JD (Comment 457) : Let’s hope GT can make that happen, we need his harre-gat nature to rub off on the team….the boys are far too easily intimidated.
@JD (Comment 458) : Well, another wing then, curwin at 10 and April at 15
@JD (Comment 458) : Pat yes, Mvov’s I doubt, on this seasons form.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 446) : 😆 seems like you have done the right thing if what I read in Rapport is correct – Allister Coetzee is sending the back line coach to get mentored by Swys de Bruin and Robbie Fleck because they are the teams that will be providing the bulk of the Boks backline players. Now if this isnt loopy I dont know – firstly the Bok coach should be mentoring the franchise coach and not the other way around and secondly if Coetzee thinks Stcik can learn anything from Fleck then you are better served watching me coach Man U.
Oh, and while Im having a gripe at AC….thanks for stuffing up Garth April, its not appreciated.
Some very interesting comments here after the bad loss on Saturday. Got to give the Canes credit as they really are playing well at the moment and their 9/10 combo must be very close to the best combo in the world currently. People are raving about the Lions and some even suggesting they are doing something magical up there in Jhb. The Lions are not doing anything exceptional…the poor state of the other SA teams make them look that much better. They are just as ft and well conditioned as the NZ sides hence they are able to execute at pace and accurately over the course of the game. They are the only SA side to play with a bit of passion and its that Sa passion thats often been the difference between Sa and NZ sides. So where to for the Sharks, Stormers, Bulls, Cheetahs…get a lot fitter and more explosive and execute accurately and at pace. No need to pull rabbits out of hats.
@SheldonK (Comment 464) : One question everyone and Nick Mallet seems to be forgetting, how long did it take the Lions to get here, and how low did they go before the results started coming?
They didn’t just magically decide during 2016 pre-season that they are going to play ‘NZ-rugby’, they have been building up to this for more than 5 years, but everyone else is now expected to just flip a switch and be as good by next week
@Die Kriek (Comment 465) : No 100%- and Swys De Bruin said that in an interview. He said this has been a good few years in the building and it took a long while to break bad habits and get fit enough etc….and they could lay that platform away from very competitive rugby. So yes trying to achieve this during a very competitive results driven season is a very different matter. Lets also not forget that Swys was involved in KZN rugby for a long time and didnt exactly produce teams of any great stature…so also good to remember that it takes more than 1 good ingredient to make a great cake.
@Die Kriek (Comment 465) : I hear you, but why does a team have to reach rock bottom to have to build it into something special. All the other teams were well ahead of the Lions, it should have been much easier for them to tweak a few things here and there to get to where the Lions are now.
The same should apply for a rugby union, no need to dig up the foundation if you want to renovate the top floor. 😈
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 467) : Well our ‘foundation’ of the past few seasons is currently spread across Europe.
I don’t think any team in the world will be able to play consistent winning rugby after losing the amount of big names we have in the past 2 seasons. Sometimes you have no choice but to start from rock bottom
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 462) : Was decision made before or after the quarter final at Newlands? 😯
@SheldonK (Comment 466) : Thats why I am defending GG at the moment.Everyone seems to put the blame for a not so good season squarely on him while he was not the only person contributing to our play style and commitment on the field, the players have to take some responsibility too and so does the management with all the off field attraction they’ve received the last couple of months. While I believe we do need a better coach very soon and that GG should leave after his contract expires, we still can’t blame everything on one guy. The commitment or lack of it displayed by the players on Saturday was very embarrassing and they should take sole responsibility for that. I was disgusted by the Sharks players attitudes.
@Quintin (Comment 470) : Look Gold has made mistakes no doubt about that- every coach does. The Sharks showed in the opening stages of both last week and even against the Canes that they can play some good rugby…surely that is on Gold instruction- so a bit of credit for that. So yes perhaps a change in coach may help…but a coach cant catch the ball for a player, cant tackle for a player. cant pass for the player and cant think for the player while he is on the field. In SA we love to lay blame (and we pretty good at it)….what we arent so good at it is finding realistic solutions to the problems we have.
@Bokhoring (Comment 469) : Presumably before as it was in yesterdays paper but tying into that is that in Fridays paper Stephen Nel wrote that the fact that the Sharks were playing a play off game showed how flawed this competition is, I agree with him but at the same time he had no problem with the Stormers winning their conference, playing only Aus sides and having a home play off game. Now if that result of the Stormers doesnt really point out how flawed the structure of the compwetition is then I dont know what will.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 467) : We’re having to build the mall of Africa, with the Voortrekker monument as the base structure – best solution is to either stick with the monument (and the income it generates), or demolish and suffer through the initial construction to end up with a money spinning success machine.
Can’t build Windows 7/8.1/10 on Display architecture….plenty real world examples where the existing old has to make way for the new. 🙂
@SheldonK (Comment 464) : The Kiwi and Lions players definitely seems to play with a lot more power and speed – the ease with which Ardie Savea monstered a much heavier Beast off the ball at a ruck is just a point in case.
Canes 9 mostly passed to players hitting the ball at speed – our nines passes to a standing player behind the gain line.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 472) : These streamers guys were awfully quick to lambaste the Sharks, yet after the 60point humiliation the streamers suffered, they blamed everything by the streamers….these guys drew with the Sunwolves, hardly the format’s fault that the streamers suck so bad
@FireTheLooser (Comment 473) : *Dos architecture (stupid autocorrect)????
@Bokhoring (Comment 474) : Improved fitness and conditioning has many knock on effects…you can play for longer at a higher tempo. There is more oxygen going to the brain allowing the player to make better decisions. Players are able to get off the ground faster and therefore able to hit more rucks and be in a position to carry more ball thus allowing a more ball in hand approach. Being more explosive/powerful allows players to break/fight tackles and also make bigger and more influential hits on defense.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 461) : but we know in SA players are pick on reputation and not form!!! So Mvovo will be there!!!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 473) : So you are saying Teich is now a happier person than he would have been if he took over when Smittie did, because things are so much better now….staff, coaches, finances, spirit, experience, teams, etc etc.
Pull the other one.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 479) : I’m happy GT takes over after Smit fired the dead wood – just because said dead wood now performs at the Lions, still doesn’t make them the right fit for the Sharks – they sure never achieved more than the odd play-offs and odd big signing here and there (butchered a fair few signings too).
So now that the Sharks charge in Super rugby is over…and well who really cares about the CC (I see we play the Pumas in Nelspruit first) who wants to place a bet on Teichman’s first player signing? Ps. who was John Smit’s first player signing?
@SheldonK (Comment 481) : How much say would a CEO normally have in player acquisition?
I know Smit did, but he served dual CEO/recruitment role…not really standard for a CEO in my opinion.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 480) : Smit firing the “dead wood” eventually got his ass fired.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 482) : Im sure he would have the last sign off but dont foresee a CEO being actively involved in recruitment. I would assume someone would be given the mandate to fulfill certain teams needs based on what the coaches have indicated. Those recruitment guy/s would then prepare reports on possible players….the coaches would indicate good targets from those reports…someone financial would then indicate the possible budget to lure them. And then the CEO would make the final sign off.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 462) : Fleck is apparently planning to go spend time with Eddie Jones to learn. AC should rather send Stick to be mentored by Eddie too.
@Bokhoring (Comment 485) : Agreed, but how stuffed up is it that the national coach has to go and get mentored by the franchise coaches who he will then later have to tell what they should be doing. Its just crazy.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 486) : Agreed.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 483) : He was on the same 3 year contract as GT has been signed, so just not renewed.
Just because Smit didn’t work out, does net mean his predecessor with his merry men was the answer – judging by results, they clearly weren’t.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 488) : Well to me there has been a palpable difference in nearly all things to do with the Sharks team – spirit, admin, players, coaches etc etc in the last 3 years than was previously the case, and bar for the initial euphoria and hope that Smitties signing brought it has not been for the better. Im sure you see it differently though.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 489) : Plenty of rumours did the rounds of player rift and staff unhappiness – honestly, the past wasn’t as rosy as your selective memory have you believing.