Sharks lose Jacobs
29 Mar 2010
Adi Jacobs is likely to be out for the rest of the Super 14 with a dislocated shoulder.
The Sharks and Springbok centre has had shoulder problems for an extended period, and he left the field during the Sharks’ victory over the Hurricanes on Saturday.
Sharks coach John Plumtree said Jacobs is set for a lengthy lay-off.
‘Yeah, we’ve lost Adi Jacobs now and he was one of our major threats probably for the Super 14, so what we do in the midfield is going to be interesting from here on,’ said Plumtree.
Waylon Murray is set to start in Jacobs’ place, a move that shouldn’t rob the Sharks of any potency in the midfield.
The Sharks defended for the large majority of the second half in their win over the Canes, but held out to claim their second successive win of the season.
‘With 30 minutes to go most people would have thought we weren’t going to win that game, but the boys just hung in,’ said Plumtree. ‘We suffered a little in attack with Adi going off and we just had to find a way really.’
JP Pietersen’s try with 25 minutes remaining was vital in the match, as the Sharks broke from deep to give themselves an 11-point buffer. The Canes later drew the scores level, but Ruan Pienaar’s long range penalty sealed the result.
‘That try gave the boys a bit more belief and then it was a case of hanging in because it was always going to go down to the wire,’ Plumtree said of Pietersen’s score. ‘We scrambled well because they were creating line break after line break and it was just one of those games where possibly the better attacking team on the night didn’t win.’
Reflecting on his side’s tough five-match tour, which earlier led to three losses in a row, Plumtree said he was happy with the eventual outcome.
‘There’s been a lot pressure on us and it hasn’t been easy, it’s been bloody tough in fact,’ said Plumtree. ‘If you looked back a few weeks ago and said we’d get 10 points out of this tour most people probably wouldn’t have taken a bet on that.’
Although the side have slowly crept up the log, a play-off place is still unlikely given their poor start to the season that saw five losses in a row.
‘We have to keep winning,’ said Plumtree. ‘We can’t afford to lose two in a row or we’re dead, so there’s still a lot of pressure on us.’
221 Comments
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29 Mar 2010, 16:04 pm
Time for Waylon to step it up a gear.
29 Mar 2010, 16:13 pm
wpw
I know mallet and his family quite well, the guy is no racist nor bigot.
29 Mar 2010, 17:55 pm
fourie might be better than Adi but he doesn’t pass and dies with the ball a lot. If your 12 (usually JDV) does the same, where does the creativity come from? you effectively have two crash centres, the combination isn’t optimal. A mix of the two is good, like Giteau/Mortlock, Nonu/Smith or JDV/Jacobs (in ’08).
29 Mar 2010, 18:26 pm
@Big Hit: 203. Alternatively you could have a Steyn/Fourie combination as in 2007 (WC winning), a Greenwood/Tindall in 2003 (WC winning) or a Jauzion/Bastareud (Grand Slam winning) combination. All fairly big brutes not known for their midfield artistry.
29 Mar 2010, 18:34 pm
@Heavens Game: Steyn, Greenwood and Jauzion are all creative, one complements the other. I just don’t see that with the JDV/Fourie combo.
29 Mar 2010, 18:44 pm
@Big Hit: I don’t know about Steyn, Greenwood or Jauzion being creative but all 3 have a solid defence, good size/power for breaching the gain line, and all three have a decent kicking game. Their passing is good too for set-plays and out of tackle.
I would call Walter Little, Giteau and Mauger creative at 12.
IMO nothing wrong with Jacque Fourie at 13 and he has proven himself year after year. Put it this way, with him in the side, the Boks win more than they lose.
29 Mar 2010, 18:47 pm
@ Big Hit: #205 Jamie Roberts & Brian o’Driscol were poetry in motion…i quite enjoyed that partnership…
29 Mar 2010, 18:52 pm
@Transformation: 207. I wouldn’t call Jamie Roberts a creative 12 either.
29 Mar 2010, 19:01 pm
@Transformation: 207. Roberts did make Adi Jacobs his little ***** at 12. Poor Adi, he did his best, but having a big, strong Welshman running through, around and over him was not good for his reputation at International level. McGeechan called it well – send the big guy “up-the-gut” and play it out wide from there (Most teams now know how to play the Boks if Adi is at 12). Thank heavens for Jacque Fourie in the 2nd test.
I wonder if Adi will play at 12 against Wales in the mid year test? Adi is better at 13, but not better than Fourie.
29 Mar 2010, 19:01 pm
@Heavens Game: 206 Fourie is a good player but needs a creative 12 to get the best out of him not another crasher.
@Heavens Game: 208 he’s more creative than his size would suggest, he was great alongside Fourie for the Barbarians putting him into space, something De Villiers doesn’t offer.
29 Mar 2010, 19:05 pm
@Big Hit: 210. I have no argument with you about De Villiers. I prefer Steyn (Francois) to De Villiers.
29 Mar 2010, 19:11 pm
@Big Hit: 208. True about his creativity to a certain extent, although his play making in the 6N wasn’t as prominent as it was against the Boks and for the Baabaas.
He also wasn’t facing the no. 1 centre against the ABs. I wonder how he would have faired against Nonu.
29 Mar 2010, 19:21 pm
@Heavens Game: a lot of the time against the ABs he was passing before contact, Wales aren’t smart enough to use him in this way. He’s a much more rounded player than Nonu in my opinion, he can play full-back too, that was his original position.
29 Mar 2010, 19:29 pm
butch got the best out of fourie.
have seen many tries where butch took it up right to the opposition and then flipped a short one to fourie cutting back.
only butch, with his complete lack of fear of collision, could do that.
29 Mar 2010, 19:31 pm
@Big Hit: 213. Def not saying Nonu is a better player but I wonder how he would have done against a bit of NZ beef. But, as you say, he was being used in a better way, and it is probably a pleasure to receive ball from Giteau. Strange that the 2 Welsh coaches and his 10 (Jones) were all involved with the BI Lions against the Boks and they could not bring him into play with the same devastation as against the Boks.
2nd season syndrome after the 1st successful one at 12?
Is he devastating at club level (Cardiff Blues, I think)?
29 Mar 2010, 19:38 pm
@charo: Yah, well Butch learnt his rugger at that Farm School in PMB. If anyone heard Skonk shouting “pressure from the rear” they would also have a complete lack of fear of collision.
How’s the nbhs reunion going? I see rangerman is also an oldboy. Jeez, you guys probably spent many a Sat exercising the elbows at Crusaders.
29 Mar 2010, 19:43 pm
@Heavens Game:
maritzburg college is the family school.
my brother and i were the lost generation but my son went there to resume the tradition.
ranger is anti crusaders but i spent many a fine evening there with my mates after work.
then i got transferred to cpt and the pub nearly went bankrupt.
since moved to hillcrest so hardly ever see the place
29 Mar 2010, 19:45 pm
@Heavens Game: The Lions had McGeechan too. Yeah Giteau might well have had something to do with it, so might Fourie’s running lines, they seemed to link up seamlessly. Roberts is very good at club level, I wouldn’t say devastating. Defenders have been right on him in his second season so perhaps there is a touch of that, but we’ll see much more from in years to come.
29 Mar 2010, 19:57 pm
@charo: 217. Jeez, College is still a farm school. My Boet unfortunately went there. I went to the one known as “School!” – 1 word, simple.
Good pub at Crusaders (hehehehe at the bankruptcy), but the pub at Hillcrest rugby club was also good, dont know whether it still is.
29 Mar 2010, 21:02 pm
@Heavens Game:
hillcrest had a good pub back in the day.
but social pressure took over and the area is now a soccer club.
hillcrest rc have moved to winston park – across the old freeway
29 Mar 2010, 21:09 pm
@mshiniwami: Potgieter, Spies Wannenburg and Stegmann would never all be on the field at the same time, unless it was Jaques Louis Potgieter, and he was playing on the other side. Potgieter had probably been subbed with Wannenburg by then.
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