Chasing greatness
13 Dec 2010
SIMON BORCHARDT, writing in SA Rugby magazine, says the Sharks must aim to emulate the Bulls.
The Sharks have lifted the Currie Cup twice in three seasons. Now they need to win a Super Rugby title.
No amount of domestic success will erase the painful memories of 2007, when the Sharks lost 20-19 to the Bulls in the Super 14 final at Kings Park. Had Frans Steyn kicked the conversion of Albert van den Berg’s late try or booted the ball into touch after the hooter, or referee Steve Walsh spotted Wikus van Heerden’s transgression in the move leading up to Bryan Habana’s try, the Sharks would have won that game, but they didn’t and their record in Super Rugby finals remains zero from three.
As the Bulls have shown, good teams win the Currie Cup, but only great ones win a Super Rugby title. The reality is that southern hemisphere franchises are now judged on their Super Rugby campaigns, just as European football clubs are judged on theirs in the Champions League. Look at Chelsea, who have won three English Premier League titles since Roman Abramovich bought the club, but have yet to win the Champions League (they suffered similar heartbreak to the Sharks when they lost to Manchester United on penalties in the 2008 final). And Abramovich will not be satisfied with the return on his investment until they do.
The good news for Sharks fans is that their team has an excellent chance of becoming Super Rugby champions next year. They have a powerful pack that dominates the set pieces and collisions, backs who can play an attacking, ball-in-hand style of play that is perfectly suited to the new law interpretations, a good tactical kicking game and an almost impenetrable defence.
However, in order for the Sharks to break their Super Rugby duck, you feel they will need to top the South African conference and earn more log points than the teams that finish first in the Australian and New Zealand sections so that if they do reach another final, it will be at Kings Park. Hosting this year’s Currie Cup decider gave the Sharks a massive advantage, as they admitted afterwards, while the Stormers/Western Province discovered just how difficult it is to win a trophy away from home.
The Sharks will be tested mentally if they reach another Super Rugby final (the ‘choker’ tag will probably crop up again considering what happened in 2007) but by winning the Currie Cup in 2008 and 2010 they have proven that they can handle the pressure of the big occasion and even thrive on it. They will need to do so again in 2011 if they hope to build a legacy to match the Bulls’.
88 Comments
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13 Dec 2010, 12:58 pm
No comments dragons
13 Dec 2010, 13:05 pm
Tac the sharks are comin’ fo ya..
13 Dec 2010, 13:09 pm
well thats a perfectly fine day all shot to hell.
thanks.
13 Dec 2010, 13:13 pm
Only trouble is that ALL the Super Rugby teams have the exact same idea. And only one of them can actually win the title.
13 Dec 2010, 13:16 pm
Hell so are we….
13 Dec 2010, 14:11 pm
Sorry, Simon.
On paper my assessment of this Sharks team remains unchanged. They have a great front row, and good loose forwards. Their locks are average, their halfback combo is decent,their centres average at best, and their back three are merely adequate.
On paper, the Stormers are arguably better than them. Let’s see this ‘team of no names’ as their own captain describes them, perform in the S15. Don’t see it happening.
Maybe an away semi at best, but championship material: not this team.
13 Dec 2010, 14:17 pm
@Tacitus : Do I hear a can of Whoopass opening?
On a serious note, I think our pool will be one of the closer contested ones…
13 Dec 2010, 14:18 pm
simon they can’t cos they dont know how
13 Dec 2010, 14:23 pm
Got to agree with Tac – their backline is tired at best …. Watch the Saders superstars rip them apart next season
13 Dec 2010, 14:24 pm
chasing greatness by cutting & pasting the All Black game plan, yeah right…
13 Dec 2010, 14:24 pm
ellis, carter , sonnybill , robbie freuen , maitland , guilford , Daag
You will need alot of pace to keep up with these boys.
13 Dec 2010, 14:27 pm
@stew : yeah, Saders backline on paper looks promising! ellis/fo’otuali’i, carter, sbw, fruean, guilford, maitland & jared payne.
13 Dec 2010, 14:27 pm
@Transformation : yeah dagg instead of payne…
13 Dec 2010, 14:49 pm
I wonder if the Springboks will be allowed to play Super 15 next year ?
All in all – our locks might be average but they are still young, our halfback combination might only be ‘decent’ but they are still young and – many answers were delivered from a Sharks loose forward perspective this year. With Jean Deysel’s return, the Sharks will be spoilt for choice and would very possibly have the best loose forward combination of any of the local sides. Again, Alberts still hasnt shown his whole hand I believe.
I cant wait to see Deysel and Alberts on the field at the same time. What a wrecking crew that would be !
Of course, the Sharks would have to move mountains to get any credit from a WP or Bulls supporter, but watch this space. Injuries, Springbok duty and departures permitting I think the Sharks are now where the Bulls were in 2005/6. Right on the brink of some big successes !
Sharks will be able to choose from this for the Super 15: Tendai Mtwarira, John Smit, Bismark Du Plessis, Jannie Du Plessis, Wiehann Herbst, Craig Burden, Eugene Van Staden, Ross Skeate, Steven Sykes, Alistair Hargreaves, Gerhard Mostert, Willem Alberts, Ryan Kankowski, Jean Deysel, Jacques Botes, Keegan Daniel, Charl McLeod, Rory Kockott, Conrad Hoffman, Andre Pretorius, Patrick Lambie, Jacque-Louis Potgieter, Meyer Bosman, Adi Jacobs, Riaan Swanepoel, Lwazi Mvovo, JP Pietersen, Odwa Ndungane, Stefan Terblanche, Louis Ludik, Mark Richards.
Very sad the Sharks let Andries Strauss go !
The big difference between this, and the Sharks 2010 Super rugby team is form and coverage. So – Sharks are ready to open another can of whoopass !
13 Dec 2010, 15:16 pm
@Tacitus : Tac, I wanted to ask you. If the Sharks back 3 comprised of Lwazi Mvovo, Louis Ludik and JP Pietersen are ‘merely adequate’, what are the Bulls back 3 (Aikona Ndungane, Up and Under Kirchner and Slow Motion Hurdles Van den Heevertjie) ?
I would say, if the Sharks back 3 cut a ‘merely adequate’, the Bulls back 3 must be super k*k ? Uber scheise ?
And now Mametsa has retired, and some other young Bulls are spending time with ‘tannie’, so – wat nou boet ?
13 Dec 2010, 15:23 pm
No, the Sharks do not need to emulate the Bulls. The Sharks will of course emulate the Sharks…
Team of the 10′s emulating the Team of the 90′s with a few Super Rugby trophies to boot…
Whats more, the S15 is going to be nothing more than the Currie Cup for the round robin stage anyway, and we all know who won the Currie Cup most recently…
The Sharks, of course…
13 Dec 2010, 15:28 pm
I can just imagine the first meeting;
Girlfrent: Hello ma, laat ek jou voorstel aan my boyfrent. Hy speel rukby vir die Bulle en Springbok 7′s.
Ma: Hello.
Boyfrent: Hello tannie. Jissee tannie, tannie se hang wange en los nek vel herinner my aan my boerboel, en dit maak my lus !
Ma: Pasop seun, ek is ‘n bietjie mal in my kop !
Boyfrent: Maak nie saak nie tannie, ek kan net nie daai triple ken, daai ou vrou lippe en die dik makeup vergeet nie…..en ek love daai ou vrou perfume wat tannie dra…wag, ek moet gou badkamer toe. Moenie worrie nie, ek gaan nie coke snuif nie…
13 Dec 2010, 15:34 pm
@Heavens Game : Its not a matter of not needing to emulate the Bulls, the Sharks MUST NOT emulate the Bulls fullstop.
Plumtree has finally got the Sharks to play an attacking style of rugby. That paired with a great flyhalf is much more effective than the skop and chase stuff the Bulls are still playing.
Plus, my mouth is watering to see Deysel and Alberts on the park at the same time. Paired with a cheeky number 6 like Keegan, I cant imagine it will be anything less than absolutely deadly !
We saw that only a short while ago.
Sharks must stick to their guns. They have had a season playing this style and although other teams will quickly try to change now, the Sharks have had one very successful season more practice !
13 Dec 2010, 15:40 pm
@Dusky : 18 Look ,Bulls rugby works for the Bulls and at its best is mighty effective and even entertaining to watch.
But the Sharks are back to playing a style that evolved in the 90′s. Yup, Plum is becoming a coach of note. I wasn’t too sure if he was suitable as a head coach initially although his technical knowledge is undeniable…
However he has shown that he knows how to mould a team and get them to play in an effective, consistent way…
Super rugby will be a good test of how good Plum really is and how good the Sharks squad is…
I suspect it will be better than most Shark fans expect.
13 Dec 2010, 15:44 pm
@Dusky : 18 yes Plum went to IRANZ and was taught how to play rugga ALL Black style and voila, the kakkest team in the super 14 all of a sudden is playing “attacking rugby”
13 Dec 2010, 15:45 pm
@Heavens Game : Plus, he can sell a kettle full of red herrings to any of the local coaches without them even knowing.
The sum total of ‘tactics’ displayed by any coach in this country was Rassie with his colored lights and of course his amazingly clever tactic (which of course fooled everyone every time) of naming a different team to what actually pitches up on the day.
Oh, and of course, making sure all his front row forwards and their replacements get injured very quickly when his team is being outscrummed to force the uncontested scrums. That was pretty devious as well.
But that is about where it ends. Alistair Coetzee bought a whole shop full of lies from Plumtree in that last league game vs. the Sharks in Cape Town. The whole stock, sold to Coetzee and his team in one go. No problem…
13 Dec 2010, 15:46 pm
@Transformation : John Plumtree doesnt coach the Stormers.
13 Dec 2010, 15:47 pm
my opinion….sharks will take super 15 next year…..there will not be the tensions around Smit and Bissy….or smit and Jannie…..smit will play 2 nd fiddle to the beast at loosehead….thats a huge plus for the team dynamics.
The Bulls better than the sharks? Not in a month of Sundays…..Bulls are regressing ….Plumtree miles ahead of the other coaches. Sharks ARE THE TEAM TO WATCH, ESPECIALLY IF THEY CAN SORT OUT THERE MIDFIELD.
Ag man….sorry caps.
13 Dec 2010, 15:50 pm
Simon,
How can you stake a claim for a particular team having a great Super 15 season without looking at the fixtures in time and space?
13 Dec 2010, 15:52 pm
@grant10 : I know I will immediately be pelted with rotten food for this, but I am going to say it anyway.
Did you by any chance see how the introduction of Adi Jacobs improved our midfield against Scotland ? If only he had come on earlier !
Nothing wrong with the Sharks midfield buddy – just wait and see.
Sharks midfield not better than the Stormers – that much I admit, but certainly not worse than any of the other SA teams.
13 Dec 2010, 15:53 pm
@grant10 : They’ve got Meyer Bosman and JLP next year. Add to that Lambie, Mvovo, Luddick and JPP and you have a great backline coming through. Oh and Adi at 13. Well, in spite of that you have a good backline.
13 Dec 2010, 15:55 pm
Sharks got a problem with their backline imo.
They missing Butch, Pienaar, Frans Steyn, Brad Barritt and Hernandez.
Also, the jury still out on their locks, but its a helluva frontrow with Beast and Bismarck.
I put them at 6 or 7 again, unless they sign some better backs and unless Sykes and Mostert come to the party next year.
13 Dec 2010, 15:55 pm
@Dusky : Consider yourself pelted.
13 Dec 2010, 15:59 pm
@cab : Huh ? Hernandez ? What did he ever do except go get his back hurt while doing goodness knows what.
Butch is history. Time to get over him.
Ruan Pienaar – we have better than him now.
Francois Steyn ? – Did you watch the end of year tests ? Lions can have him with my compliments to be honest.
Brad Barritt ? Good player, but we dont need another 12. We need a 13 or two.
Sharks will end better than 6th of 7th – I can make you that promise right now. Top 4 for sure.
Hoping that the Sharks will end 6th or 7th can only possibly come from a WP or Bulls supporter. So which one are you ?
13 Dec 2010, 16:00 pm
@Dusky : In the Super 14 over the last couple of years the Sharks’ offensive game has been poor. This year they secured only one bonus point (against the defensively weak Lions), and scored just 23 tries in 13 matches, making them the worst attacking side in the competition. FACT
13 Dec 2010, 16:02 pm
@Dusky :
just my opinion, i hope the sharks win it, good luck, but i’ve seen better sharks sides before. your backline and locks just dont look championship winning material, maybe in 2 years, your frontrow and backrow is awesome tho esp with deysel back, one wonder if kanko cant play centre?
13 Dec 2010, 16:03 pm
@stormersboy : That’s fine dude. I know Adi isn’t everyone’s favourite.
Another thing I know though about Adi in comparison to other people that I know – is that he displays one of the biggest senses of loyalty that I have ever known in sport and in any other facet of life and he sets a very high standard for himself.
Adi will be back, playing his best for the jersey (not wanting to puke on it) – this much I am sure of. Whether you like it or not.
And I have a feeling he is on his way back to his best !
13 Dec 2010, 16:04 pm
yeah..good currie cup team the Sharks.
13 Dec 2010, 16:06 pm
@Dusky : No, you had a point in your original post. He played well when he came on. I’m still not a fan though. It’s his defence really. He missed some crucial tackles in the Babas game.
That’s the part of his game that really worries me, not his attacking play. He’s very good in that department.
13 Dec 2010, 16:07 pm
@cab : Our backline ? 15 – Ludik, 14 – Pietersen, 13 – Adi Jacobs, 12 – Meyer Bosman, 11 – Lwazi Mvovo, 10 – Patrick Lambie, 9 – Charl McLeod.
In which part of that backline do you find the Sharks lacking ? And which South African team do you feel has a vastly superior backline.
I only ask, because considering you place the Sharks 6th or 7th, you must surely be placing at least one, perhaps two South African teams above them ?
After the last 3 weeks of the Currie Cup, I am just interested to know who these South African teams are that are going to so easily surpass this terribly average Sharks team that just put a 20 point margin between themselves and the 2010 Super 14 runners up. Oh, and we wont forget beating the Super 14 champs two weeks prior to that.
So – you are welcome to your opinion, but I am interested to hear which SA teams will end higher than the Sharks in your opinion. Let me guess Lions or Cheetahs are one of them ?
13 Dec 2010, 16:08 pm
@stormersboy : 33 quite right, they won the currie cup in 2008 and what did they do un the super 14 last year and this year? zilch!
13 Dec 2010, 16:09 pm
@Transformation :
13 Dec 2010, 16:09 pm
@stormersboy : Ummm, my boet….come on. Francois Steyn was missing tackles, throwing wild passes all match long. Never mind the fact that two easy tries were scored through our midfield by Wales the week prior !?
Adi came on, and suddenly things became much more direct, more accurate and our backline suddenly started to move forward a bit. And this for a guy thats been out for how long ?
I am not going to change your opinion. I have spent many hours in debate trying to persuade people about Adi. All I am going to say is remember what I am saying to you today.
He still wont be everyone’s favourite, but Adi Jacobs is on his way back to his best form ever. Just in time for the world cup.
13 Dec 2010, 16:10 pm
@Dusky : 35 one bonus point in a whole season (against the kak lions nogal)
bwahahaha
13 Dec 2010, 16:12 pm
@Transformation : What did the Stormers do in the Super 14 ? Oh wow – they played a final ?
How many finals have the Sharks played ?
You got a looooonnnnngggg way to go to catch up. A long way.
Plus the Sharks crucified that Super 14 team of yours. In the Super 14 and again in the Currie Cup final.
13 Dec 2010, 16:14 pm
@Dusky : I’m certainly not saying that Frans was any better at all, in fact the only real option on tour for me at 13 was Adi, in spite of my reservations about him (which I;ve posted on before). The fact is, after JDV, JDJ, JF and (gulp) WO Adi is the next best. I haven’t seen anything from anyone this year that has changed my mind.
The 12-13 combo should have been JDV and Adi from the get go. It’s only fair really.
And if he does get his form back and makes it to the Bok team, good for him, at that level for me it’s all about what’s best for the Bokke.
13 Dec 2010, 16:15 pm
@Transformation : What delusion are you talking about now ?
If you’re a Stormers/WP supporter, I would keep quiet about the Sharks…very quiet. Choose one of the other teams that didn’t just hammer WP back into their little hole just a couple of weeks ago.
Biggest Currie Cup final margin in how long ? Bwaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ….now that….is funny !
13 Dec 2010, 16:15 pm
My Sharks backline
9. Mcleod
10. JLP
11. Mvovo
12. Meyer Bosman
13. Adi Jacobs
14. JPP
15. Lambie
20. Kockott
21. Swannie
22. Odwa
13 Dec 2010, 16:15 pm
@Dusky : who cares about the Stormers, they’re not “chasing greatness” are they?
13 Dec 2010, 16:19 pm
You Sharkies are getting a little ahead of yourselves. Read this Lions backline and weep.
9. Vermaak
10. Jantjes
11. Mapoe
12. La Grange
13. Murray
14. Killian
15. Taute
Weaknesses? I don’t see any.
13 Dec 2010, 16:24 pm
@Dusky : 42 you’re in denial
the Sharks backline has been impotent for like 3 seasons.
13 Dec 2010, 16:27 pm
This from the WP Rugby website:
“Thursday, December 09, 2010
Off-season Training
75 Players have been hard at work at the High Performance Centre in Bellville. Whilst our current Boks have been afforded a well earned and needed break, focussed off-season training began already on the 22nd of November.
The large squad includes some of the younger age group players allowing them to train with and learn from senior professionals like Andries Bekker, Juan de Jongh, Ricky January and Francois Louw. A number of Boland players are also included in the greater training squad.
The focus of the 4 weeks, finishing on 16 December, is on pure physical conditioning with a touch of fun and team activities at spots including Clifton and Newlands Forest.
“Strongman activities” are a big component of our physical preparation for 2011. These are tough physical sessions and the mere thought keeps most players lying awake at night.
The sessions are important though as they definitely prepare the players physically, but most of all mentally, for what lies ahead in 2011.”
13 Dec 2010, 16:28 pm
Gary Van Aswegen. Remember that name. WP U21 Flyhalf. Brilliant player, the future of WP Rugby.
13 Dec 2010, 16:31 pm
good, everyone talk down the Bulls…that way, the trophy will be staying in Pretoria for sure.
as for the bulls..
guthro
gary
chillipepper
greyling
werner….all sorted
bakkies
Vic
danie
flip
juandre….all sorted
stegmann
potgieter
spies
okkies
van velze ….all sorted
dupreez ….sorted
morne….sorted
wynand
watermeyer
pretorius
dippenaar
basson
hurdles
kirchner
akona
hougaard….all sorted
I fancy the bulls chances, potential problems around the lack of rest for big Vic and Morne as well as the fact that we can’t seem to settle on a 13.
13 Dec 2010, 16:31 pm
That lions backline sounds like a dental practice and it’s about as memorable as well.
Every year the vultures gather around the bulls carcass and every year Oom Vic beats them away with a big stick.
Make it so boys.
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