Sharks get young Prince of Wings
22 Jan 2013
The Sharks have contracted Jean-Luc du Plessis, son of Springbok left wing Carel, as part of a drive to snap up SA’s best young talent.
In Mark Keohane’s article on John Plumtree, the Sharks coach revealed that having so many players away on international duty has allowed the men from Durban to develop talent at Currie Cup level, which he sees as a tournament that showcases of the next generation of star players in South Africa.
Plumtree said that he ‘does not differentiate between the need to win and develop quality players’ and that ‘it can’t be one at the expense of the other. The nature of the sport is you have to win but you can develop and win at the same time if your identification is right.’
The coach’s emphasis on player recruitment and development is backed up by an article on Schoolboy Rugby that reveals the Sharks latest and youngest signings.
The report suggests that the Sharks only contract between eight and 12 young players every year, with these players picked based both on their rugby ability and the future needs of the union.
The recruitment drive is geared towards identifying the best players, irrespective of where they reside or play their rugby. Contracted players automatically join the high performance elite training group at the Sharks Academy where they receive specialised training. Their contracts contain both performance and academic clauses, which means that in order to receive their full salary, players have to show commitment to both rugby and their studies.
The eight contracted players (with bio’s courtesy of Schoolboy Rugby)
Jean-Luc du Plessis (Paarl Boys High): The son of Springbok left wing Carel. A talented cricketer as well, Du Plessis plies his trade at flyhalf where he is known for his vision and attacking skills.
Neil Maritz (Paarl Boys High): Lightning quick outside centre who spent a great deal of 2012 sidelined due to injury. The 110m hurdles athlete has good hands, can put a team-mate into the gap and is solid on defence. He has been likened to Jean de Villiers.
Andre Esterhuizen (Klerksdorp): At 1.91m and 104kg this fullback can also play centre. Represented the SA Sevens team in 2011 while still in Grade 11 and was expected to walk into the SA Schools team last year. However, he got suspended for six months for using a racist term.
Sandile Kubeka (Kearsney): The SA Schools centre had a quiet Craven Week by his high standards. Contender for the KZN Player of the Year and deserved a national U18 cap. Won a local annual sports hero award. Three years of 1st XV experience.
Bart le Roux (Framesby): The 1.91m, 116kg tighthead prop was part of the unbeaten EP Craven Week team in 2012. A year before that Le Roux represented the SA Academy team against France. For a big man, Le Roux is able to get around the park and thrives on being in the thick of the action.
Stefan van Schalkwyk (Oakdale): He is 1.87m and 122kg. Good scrummager, and for a young guy of his size, his mobility and hands are exceptional. Packs some good aggression.
Marné Coetzee (Glenwood): Tighthead prop who made the 2011 SA Schools team playing Craven Week for the Blue Bulls while attending Waterkloof. He moved to Durban later the year after accepting a contract to play for the Sharks once his schooling was completed. Played for the Sharks in the U19 domestic competition last year. Part of the SA U20 squad.
Gideon Koegelenberg (Hugenote): The 2012 SA Schools lock – 1.99m and 110kg. Great attitude, high work-rate, good hands and ball-carrying skills. The Sharks flew him to Durban to be part of the their U19 provincial campaign last year.
Tags: sharks
38 Comments
22 Jan 2013, 13:48 pm
Dragon Prince
22 Jan 2013, 14:01 pm
Not sure about the others but that Sandile Kubeka can play.
Very quick for centre and has great hands.
Huge controversy surrounding Coetzee’s move from Waterkloof to Glenwood.
Some KZN schools have even refused to play against Glenwood this year because of his move down here.
22 Jan 2013, 14:07 pm
@John Galt-2: May I ask what the ‘issue’ is? Just curious.
22 Jan 2013, 14:27 pm
Watched Jean Luc play for Paarl Boys against Pollards Paarl Gym….
Boy is CLASS…….
well done Sharks…a future star imo
22 Jan 2013, 14:33 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-3:
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/sports-row-at-top-durban-schools-1.1455625
I heard about this last year and only coming to light now.
22 Jan 2013, 14:34 pm
@John Galt-2: Did he move for post matric?
22 Jan 2013, 14:40 pm
Thanks John – Interesting article … Para that jumped out at me – Westville’s objection to Coetzee was that his inclusion was not within the spirit of an agreement that major rugby-playing schools had with one another regarding under-19 players who had not progressed through the school’s ranks.
22 Jan 2013, 14:43 pm
@Tankman-6:
No I dont believe so Tank. Think he moved during his Matric year.
22 Jan 2013, 14:50 pm
Werner Greeff moved from Bellville High School to DF Malan High School halfway through his matric year as Bellville picked him at 10, and he thought he would only have a change to make WP Craven Week at wing – where DF then picked him. (Or he was playing wing at Bellville but wanted to play 10 to make Craven Week).
22 Jan 2013, 14:53 pm
@grant10-4: Better than Pollard, IMO.
22 Jan 2013, 15:00 pm
Sharks and Bulls getting their hands on all available talent in the country.Good on them.No more excuses in the next year or two then?
22 Jan 2013, 15:39 pm
How many of these are KZN boys?
I know Gideon. Good luck to him.
The news about JP was announced last year already. A pity but he will come home after the Sharks have spent money developing him.
22 Jan 2013, 16:22 pm
Du Plessis more talented than Pollard IMO. Pollard has size advantage though, more reliable and has this calmness to him.
Was rather annoyed when I found out we were losing both, discovered we’ll be getting Bulls 9 Justin Phillips later on which made up for it.
22 Jan 2013, 17:21 pm
@silent_shadow-13:
You snached Elton Jantjies, not a mean feat I think?
22 Jan 2013, 17:44 pm
13 ss: The 8 and 10 of the Bulls’ Craven Week side joined WP this season. Phillips will only complete school this year but has already signed for Province for next season.
Stormersboy: I don’t think Jean Luc will come back to WP too soon!
I saw Kabous van Schalkwyk playing at the Oakdale week during 2012. Proud to say that Kabous and my son were the 2 props selected for the Agri XV during that week. Unfortunately it was a side picked on paper only
Gecko: Werner moved from Bellville to DF Malan and in grade 11 he was in the winning Bellville team at inter schools’ rugby and in matric he was in the DF Malan winning team.
22 Jan 2013, 17:44 pm
Both very good players but I see Pollard making the grade easier as a pro player than Du Plessis. Du Plessis’s kicking game has to improve a lot. Fantastic with ball in hand. Excellent signing for Sharks.
22 Jan 2013, 17:53 pm
@keo-16: I agree! I still maintain that J-L is a better cricketer than a rugby player. He is talented though.
At this stage nobody really knows why he has gone to the Sharks. I have it on good authority that it was his own decision and not Carel’s
22 Jan 2013, 18:34 pm
Based on the statistics provided by High Schools Sport magazine (www dot hssm dot co dot za) the overwhelming majority of players who made SA under 18 last year will go to the Bulls and not to the Sharks:
Team No. of signings
Blue Bulls 14
Western Provice 5
Natal Sharks 4
Golden Lions 3
Free State Cheetahs 1
EP Kings 1
22 Jan 2013, 18:59 pm
Interesting to see these youngsters being grabbed so quickly compared to the Moneyball theory of successful signings.
22 Jan 2013, 19:09 pm
Good decision Jean-Luc and Carel ! Well done !
22 Jan 2013, 19:26 pm
Well… Province did get Pieter Jordaan, and the Lions have Jaco van der Walt (I assume).
Personally I don’t mind spreading the wealth
22 Jan 2013, 20:09 pm
@John Galt-5: Wow. That seems to be a helluva unpleasant situation. Very true what was said in the article by the Sharksmart fella. School sport…..utterly insane and a breeding ground for all sorts of ‘evils’.
22 Jan 2013, 22:19 pm
@Robzim-18: It’s a serious problem in our country that the Bulls are swooping up all these youngsters. So many of them fall through the cracks if there are so many of them. Some players peak a little later, but the Bulls scrap you early if you don’t make it and then guys just fall by the wayside.
23 Jan 2013, 01:22 am
Stupid mercenaries making money immorality straight out the cradle pathetic professional profiteers before they can even sign their own insurance policy statement
23 Jan 2013, 04:15 am
@skopdiekan-24:
Why so bitter Ubu… these kids are hardly going on to huge pay-packets being signed into the Academy?
23 Jan 2013, 04:18 am
@bryce_in_oz-25:
Maybe not huge pay-packets but probably more than skoppelos makes building toilets, would you not be bitter as well?
23 Jan 2013, 04:47 am
@Slartibartfast-26:
Well he’s welcome to try and qualify for a bit-part in the niche-market, billion Dollar industry that is top-flight professional rugby…
23 Jan 2013, 04:59 am
@bryce_in_oz-27:
He applied to carry the sand bucket for the kickers because ‘he knows sand’ but when they told him the kickers use a tee these days he got all confused and abusive and they kicked him out. I think he burnt that particular bridge…
23 Jan 2013, 05:16 am
@Slartibartfast-28:
Hehe… yeah all that spittle that flies does the sand no good in any case…
As for the article… good to see the Sharks trying to bolster their prop stocks from the bottom-up… they need them desperately…
23 Jan 2013, 05:58 am
@David-19:
People have tried to apply the moneyball theory to other sports like football and American Football but it doesn’t really work.
23 Jan 2013, 06:01 am
@gunther-30:
Not enough stats and besides baseball is a more individualistic ‘team’ sport than football and NFL
23 Jan 2013, 06:46 am
The more province boys who play top flight rugby the better off we all are.
23 Jan 2013, 07:32 am
Are there any younger kids coming through the ranks? It would be great if province could hold onto one of them.
23 Jan 2013, 09:02 am
Stormers tell me that Carel’s son, Jean-Luc du Plessis, was offered a place at the WP Rugby Institute and a WP contract for this year … But chose Durban. Can’t keep them all I suppose … Western Province have signed two SA Schools flyhalves, Pieter Jordaan (Free State) and Ryno Eksteen (Blue Bulls), with the duo set to further their rugby careers in Cape Town from the start of 2013.
23 Jan 2013, 09:09 am
@Tankman-34: To be fair to young du Plessis though:
The Pollard nonsense last year is what made the kid show the WPRFU a middle finger I reckon.
The manner in which the WPRFU bent over backwards, and fell over their beerbellies to woo Pollard, when it was aready OBVIOUS and well known to everyone but them it seems, that he was on his way to Pretoria, must have been a bitter pill for Jean_Luc to swallow.
Pollard got the Craven week captaincy, and starting 10 spot on the mistaken belief that he would stay here…..(after what his father had said along with oblivious morons at the WPRFU – all this when his bags were already packed….)
So much was ‘invested’ in Handre I reckon, that kids like Jean-Luc were pretty much ignored….. The WPRFU caused all this IMHO.
23 Jan 2013, 09:16 am
Sharks signing some good youngsters!! Impressive… Pieter Jordaan a great signing for WP… Runs very good lines and breaks just like his brother!
23 Jan 2013, 13:49 pm
i wonder if any of the Dalians from the impressive team of last year have contracts with any unions.
23 Jan 2013, 16:45 pm
@mabi-37:
Nam ndilindele ukubona ba zingaphi ezizophelela kwiKings… Over the years, very few have left the EC and actually made it at those bigger unions. Look at Andile Jho, SA schools two years in a row, he can’t even get a starting spot in the Bulls u21 side.
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