Sharks’ Du Preez determined to ensure that all is not lost

DURBAN: For the Sharks, three months of Currie Cup toil ended up in tears at Kings Park on Saturday after frailties in their game were ruthlessly exposed by Western Province.

An invaluable chance to seize momentum ahead of the 2018 Super Rugby season has perished, but coach Robert du Preez is determined to ensure all is not lost.

“There is huge disappointment for us and the supporters but while we have lost the final, I feel we have generally turned this around this year and built a good squad. We did a lot of good things in this competition and when we add players coming back from Japan, it bodes well for Super Rugby.”

Perhaps, but for now Sharks fans have every right to a blue Monday. What the heck happened? The Sharks were runaway log leaders, going unbeaten in 10 consecutive games, only for the wheels to come off at home twice in a fortnight to Province.

It comes down to the oldest cliche in the book. It pains one to even write “it always starts up front.”

A retreating tight five mean your flanks can’t be effective, the gain line battle is lost, and then the scrumhalf is under pressure, and so it ripples all the way down to the fullback. That is exactly what happened to the Sharks in a nutshell. And the opposite happened for a WP team that were given a cushy ride by their tight five on Saturday.

“Province put a lot of pressure on us, especially in the scrums, it started early in the game and took its toll later,” Du Preez conceded. “Province have got a really great front row in Wilco Louw, Bongi Mbonambi and JC Janse van Rensburg. We battled to deal with that pressure. In the second half we could not get our hands on ball. It was very tough.”

WP were able to use the possession to initiate momentum by regularly getting over the gain line to put the Sharks’ defence on the back foot.

The coach has confirmed that his elder son, Robert du Preez will be joining the Sharks for the Super Rugby season. The 24-year-old had an excellent game at flyhalf for the visitors, and WP coach John Dobson praised his key role in his team winning the Currie Cup.

“Rob du Preez is going to be special in Durban,” Dobson said. “He is leaving Western Province, but he put absolutely everything into this campaign. His leadership was really key.”