‘WP have formula to beat Sharks’
25 Oct 2012
WP defence coach Jacques Nienaber believes his team has the blueprint to become the first SA side to beat the Sharks at Kings Park this year.
Nienaber is praised as the guru who has masterminded the Cape teams’ defensive structures, which excelled during Super Rugby and the Currie Cup over the last three years.
The Stormers’ strong guard helped them qualify for two semi-finals (2011 and 2012) and one final (2010) in Super Rugby. WP also featured in one semi-final (2011) and a final (2010) on the domestic scene.
However, those teams all lost their respective play-off matches, extending their title drought to 11 years. The last piece of silverware added to the Newlands trophy cabinet was the 2001 Currie Cup (that’s if you exclude the over-hyped South African conference title won in Super Rugby).
These three years of finals rugby heartache forced the management to rethink their game plan. Backline coach Robbie Fleck revealed to this site in September that this year’s domestic campaign would be used to implement a stronger attacking game, which their players have bought into.
Gio Aplon told me midway during the league phase: ‘We’ve realised the hard way that a strong defence won’t win semi-finals and finals. It’s good enough to get you to the top of the league, but you have to be able to attack well if you want to win those play-off games.’
As a result, WP have scored the second most tries in the tournament (behind the Sharks) and are the third top point-scorers (close behind the Sharks and Golden Lions). They showed great composure with ball in hand to score a late try for a 21-16 comeback semi-final win over the Lions at Ellis Park.
They now have the opportunity to carry that momentum into the final against the Sharks, who have beaten all South African teams at Kings Park during Super Rugby and the Currie Cup in 2012.
While the Sharks have beaten the Stormers and WP four out of five times during these tournaments, Nienaber said the last two defeats have helped the team progress.
‘We were beaten 43-27 in Durban during round two, but we played with 12 men at one stage,’ Nienaber told keo.co.za. ‘We were still in the game before we were issued those two red cards and the final yellow card just made things even more difficult. The Sharks scored three tries with a greater man advantage.
‘But earlier in the game, we were very competitive. We manned up against their powerful pack and had the technical game plan that troubled them.
‘The 25-23 loss in Cape Town in the opening round was a learning curve for us. While we were placing a greater focus on attack, it revealed we didn’t have an effective scramble defence. Most of their tries came from turnovers in possession. But the situation has improved since then. We’ve lost many of our first-choice players to injury, but we have the formula to beat the Sharks in the final.
‘This greater balance between attack, defence and tactical kicking plan also bodes well for Super Rugby next year.’
Nienaber added that the Sharks’ defence and kicking game have been key in their successful year, especially during the Currie Cup.
‘Many people believe the Sharks are doing well because of their strong attack,’ he said. ‘But the Sharks have improved very well on defence. They’re also kicking the ball a lot. The Currie Cup stats show that they’ve kicked the most during the tournament. They even had six more kicks than the Blue Bulls in the semi-final. I don’t think anyone has picked up on that.’
Nienaber believes discipline will be vital in Saturday’s Currie Cup showdown: ‘The Lions conceded more penalties than us at Ellis Park last weekend, but we leaked too many in kickable positions and gave Elton Jantjies a chance to boot his team to victory. We can’t afford that against the Sharks and Pat Lambie.’
By Gareth Duncan
251 Comments
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25 Oct 2012, 10:26 am
@Anomander-35: “A sarcastic term for the internet.”
And considering the audience on this thread – pretty damn appropriate.
25 Oct 2012, 10:27 am
@Zandberg Jansen-48: that might be it actually.
the weight of expectation lies heavy on the shoulders of wp fans.
backbreaking.
25 Oct 2012, 10:28 am
audience?
does that make you the head clown?
25 Oct 2012, 10:28 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-50: We have a winner.
25 Oct 2012, 10:28 am
“Interweb” – Blend of internet and web (“World Wide Web”). The first use of this phrase is disputed. Slang, humorous, typically used in a jocular or sarcastic manner by more experienced Internet users, especially as a mockery of the less experienced when used with “teh” as in “You suck at teh interweb!”
25 Oct 2012, 10:29 am
@coma-44: You say we’re gonna win. I say we’re gonna win.
It’s up to the teams to bloody decide!
However, WP will win a trophy sooner (hopefully Saturday) or later (definitely Saturday)!
I had a terrible dream last night where we lost 13-10 in a sodden Absa Stadium to a last minute try from Keegan Daniel. The dream was so vivid it had Warren Brosnihan as commentator!
The dream just represented the anxiety a lot of The Faithful are experiencing right now borne from our extended trophy-less run and the odds that are stacking against us by the minute.
Province must just fo FTW!
25 Oct 2012, 10:29 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-53: Nope. It makes you fellas, who spent 15 posts discussing a term I threw out there, a captive audience.
25 Oct 2012, 10:30 am
@coma-33: “I detect a little bit of jealously towards the Sharks in your responses” – jealousy? bwahahahaha
since plumtree tookover the sharks have finished 6th, 9th, 6th and 6th on the super rugby log, the past 2 years they made the playoffs due to the lenient comp structure – SANZAR greed!
25 Oct 2012, 10:31 am
@WP-Forever-55:
25 Oct 2012, 10:32 am
So we have three teams in the finals of Currie Cup rugby. Great stuff WP. This bodes very well for the future!
25 Oct 2012, 10:33 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-54: thank you.
cant say the same for wp though.
25 Oct 2012, 10:34 am
@WP-Forever-55: Ah. I’ve been on the ‘Net since about 1994 and first time I’d come across that. Have heard of the world wide wait however.
25 Oct 2012, 10:34 am
@coma-12: Sharks have amazing depth, Province suites suck ***!!!
25 Oct 2012, 10:35 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-57: so we are here to discuss nothing?
dont be so sensitive.
you are my audience of one now.
25 Oct 2012, 10:35 am
@Transformation-58: Let’s be honest, when it comes to Super rugby, the guppies usually spend the first 6 games of the competition thinking about ‘what could have been’ the previous season.
Once they shrug off the regrets, and revert to something other than Alberts or Bissie crashing the ball up – they make huge strides in the 2nd half of the competition (with the only blip coming in the form of the annual PK from the Lions)and claw their way to an admirable 6th on the log. Then we get the hype and the hysteria, until it starts all over again.
The Lions are not there next year……I am going to collapse in fits, if the Kings take over where the Lions left off. Guppiekillingmuddafcukers.
25 Oct 2012, 10:35 am
@Transformation-58: ouch
25 Oct 2012, 10:36 am
WP to play with nothing to lose which makes them very very dangerous.
Always a problem when okes from the WP play with g ay abandon.
25 Oct 2012, 10:38 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-64: Cue, “Muse – Uprising”.
Imminent interWEB Guppie uprising alert. They have returned to serve
25 Oct 2012, 10:38 am
@goodstuff-63: Check post 60.
25 Oct 2012, 10:40 am
lets be honest the wp has had a decent run for three years but they are reverting to form and will spend another decade as hopefuls.
tekkel tekkel tekkel maak hulle almal bokke ooh fok hy’s eintlik baie sw (K)ak ooh kyk daars nog ‘n laaitie maak hom ‘n bok!
useless. trophyless. old news.
wp are england, the sharks are the usa.
25 Oct 2012, 10:41 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-65: Ok, here’s a question for you “one-eyed” supporters. Do you think it would be better for SA rugby if we had 3 or 4 sides at the top of their games, rather than 1 or 2. i.e if any of the top 4 had even odds of beating the others (rather like the NZ conference).
Imho, I would prefer 3 or 4 (or more) strong sides, and it would also make the bets against WP mates more interesting. (But they probably still would not pay up)!
25 Oct 2012, 10:42 am
@John Galt-67:
25 Oct 2012, 10:42 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-68: if the sharks fans left this place would be like a club for losers.
dark room, old carpets, musty smell, muted vibes serving punch and listening to barry manilow.
never been to these kinds of places but had a wp colleague tell me about his saturdays after finals rugby once.
25 Oct 2012, 10:43 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-65: “(with the only blip coming in the form of the annual PK from the Lions)” –
25 Oct 2012, 10:44 am
cue sinatra – i did it my way
25 Oct 2012, 10:45 am
It has been a very long time since 1 team was so firmly written off.
I like it.
25 Oct 2012, 10:45 am
but seriously, it will be a good game with rugby the winner.
25 Oct 2012, 10:45 am
@nkqo6-47:
Noko aba baseDurban bakhe bayi pass(e) ibhola…. Umdlalo wabo unika umdla. Qha abalandeli babo bayadika, yhu!
25 Oct 2012, 10:46 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-68: oh they’re back!
25 Oct 2012, 10:46 am
@grant10-76: wrong.
they are written off every year.
outside the cape that is.
25 Oct 2012, 10:47 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-80: and with good reason…….the final hurdle farks them every time.
25 Oct 2012, 10:48 am
lots of money flowing into durban but you wp fans musnt bring your wp manners here this weekend.
just pay up, drown your sorrows and go home please.
25 Oct 2012, 10:48 am
@grant10-76: i’m sorry to say though…i forsee a bit PK
25 Oct 2012, 10:49 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-81: they had a good run in the 1980′s though.
ask them, they will tell you.
so did sting and the police.
25 Oct 2012, 10:49 am
this build up reminds me of that final when Bulls played Cheetahs at Loftus….
The 1 where Ollie Le Roux had that post match cigar.
25 Oct 2012, 10:50 am
@mxhosa-78: haha
batheni “bayadika”? hahahahahahahaha
25 Oct 2012, 10:51 am
if wp get a huge smack this weekend i will laugh in the faces of those cowards who try to play the “they are the favourites look at their fans touting them” card.
friendly warning.
25 Oct 2012, 10:51 am
@grant10-85: wp were playing that day?
25 Oct 2012, 10:52 am
@Transformation-83: I love the overwhelming write off of the WP……..
I see a chink in the Sharks armour…..AC will have seen it as well…..hope we exploit it.
25 Oct 2012, 10:52 am
@Anomander-71: Agree with you. For all my adoration at the altar of WP and Stormers rugby……..there is only ONE rugby god I serve – Springbok rugby.
For Bok rugby, we need 4 seriously competitive S15 teams, who can smash ANY opposition on the day, both home and away. In terms of the CC, (very sad but needs to be done for the greater good), no Boks except fringe players should play any part in it, at all. The CC will always be competitive without the Boks in any event, as is evident this year once again with all the yougsters (from all unions) making their mark. All the CC should be, is an extended trial for Super rugby squads.
Boks should be rested in order to smash whoever we face in our annual pilgrimages up north.
I’m worried about the Boks on the EOYT at this stage, far more than I am worried about WP causing an upset in Durban this weekend. Provincial bragging rights locally mean nothing, if the Boks are the laughing stock of the rest of the rugby world.
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-73: Then why did they leave on Monday?
25 Oct 2012, 10:53 am
pity ryan kankowski and francois steyn arent able to play this weekend.
25 Oct 2012, 10:53 am
@grant10-85: and the KFC barrel and the Spur burger combo and the Boston BBQ buffet………
25 Oct 2012, 10:53 am
@mxhosa-78: hahahaha ndiyabazi ndandibukele umdlala pha collegians , rhaaa zisile ezozinja ezo . kutwezeke maxhegu bantwana ngumgubo wengxowa enye
25 Oct 2012, 10:53 am
@grant10-89: We will murder them on the ground. Duane and Deon have the edge there in a huge way……
25 Oct 2012, 10:54 am
@grant10-76:
I seem to remember you giving last week’s game to the Lions… If couldn’t believe Province could beat the Lions, what makes you think they can beat the Sharks?
25 Oct 2012, 10:54 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-87:
ag jys maar net ‘n *****
25 Oct 2012, 10:54 am
@grant10-89: AC could’nt spot a cheap tart in Church str if she stood next to him.
25 Oct 2012, 10:55 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-90: who left?
belay that. who cares.
the wp backslapping and bum squeezing in this place must be tempered with some cold steel.
25 Oct 2012, 10:55 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-91: Pity Schalk Burger, Jean de Villiers, Rynhardt Elstadt, Andries Bekker, Tiaan Liebenberg, Siya Kolisi couldn’t play this weekend.
25 Oct 2012, 10:56 am
@wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-91: and bissie!
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