April has really enjoyed a thriller of a season
DURBAN: Garth April is 26 now but as baby-faced as ever and with his growing hair, older fans will see the likeness of a young Michael Jackson but his Sharks teammates prefer to give him the nickname of Bruno Mars on account of his hairstyle.
Perhaps what he best has in common with the pop stars is his twinkle toes, that have been more evident than ever this season in the longest run he has had in a Sharks jersey both in the Super Rugby and Currie Cup, generally at fullback but occasionally at flyhalf.
He was suspended for one match because he reportedly missed a team commitment during their bye week, but otherwise this has been a good season for the young man from the Western Cape.
April is from Wellington and attended Paarl Gym until grade 11, when he then moved to Hoerskool Florida in Roodepoort, Johannesburg.
Something of a wanderer since finishing school, April has played Vodacom Cup rugby for the Lions, Boland and Western Province before his big break in 2015 when he was contracted by the Sharks.
He had a good game against Toulouse in a pre-season friendly in February, but has had to bide his time in Super Rugby.
In 2017, he has had plenty of game time compared to a lean 2016.
“This year I have really enjoyed myself, a part from a short injury one game into the season. I have played quite a few games in a row now, by far the most for me for many a year,” April says.
He smiles when asked a question he has heard more than a few times. Which position does he prefer? Flyhalf or fullback?
“I prefer to play at (No) 10 because you get the ball in hand more often but I also I enjoy the time and space you get at 15,” April says.
“And these are exciting times to be in the backline at the Sharks because our forwards are giving us really good ball. We just want to score tries.
“I also think that a whole season of focussing on our skill levels in training have produced results, although there is still plenty of room for our error rate to decrease.”
The Sharks came together nicely against Griquas in a tricky match in Kimberley last week, and April said the goal now was to ensure that they do not take a step back and rather improve a little each week in the run-in to the semi-finals, starting this week against the Blue Bulls.
“We just want to build momentum after Griquas. We had a good win there in very tough circumstances on a Friday night,” April said.
“This weekend the Bulls are going to be an interesting challenge. Their forwards are as physical as ever, and the backs are trying to play more expansively. We just have to meet them physically up front.”