How to get rid of the Super Rugby blues

● The Lions, for the third straight year, topped Super Rugby’s South African conference. The teams in their wake have some catching up to do.

The Sharks

Given the talent in the Sharks’ player pool, scraping into the Super Rugby quarterfinals represents underachievement. The Sharks only just pipped the Melbourne Rebels to get into the top eight.

They were competitive against teams ranked higher but that’s what we’ve come to expect. Robert du Preez’s team may have been combative but they lacked creativity, and perhaps ambition. Not even Dick Muir’s sense of adventure rubbed off.

The Sharks were overly pragmatic, relying too heavily on penalty goals, which helped flyhalf Robert du Preez up the scoring chart. Only the Stormers scored fewer tries in the South African conference.

We have to step up every department of our game Mario Ledesma Jaguares coach

It is hard to see the Sharks finding an extra gear with the current coaching staff in place. Coach Du Preez, often maligned for an abrasive management style and abrupt dealings with the media, will have to undergo radical transformation for the Sharks to get ahead.

“We weren’t quite there and that was the story of our season,” he noted after last weekend’s quarterfinal defeat by the Crusaders.

He’s right. The Sharks were on the field but they rarely gave you the impression they enjoyed being there.

The Stormers

There have been strident calls for the men at the helm of Stormers rugby to get the boot. What is clear is that the franchise at the very least needs a reboot following a season in which the team grossly underachieved. They were without the talismanic figure of lock Eben Etzebeth, but coach Robbie Fleck had enough talent at his disposal to finish higher than 11th.

The start of the franchise’s review process was dominated by the spat between assistant coaches Paul Treu and Paul Feeney. Resolving that matter almost seems a diversion from the elephant in the room, the suits.

The Bulls

The Bulls were beset by injury. After their last league match coach John Mitchell stressed the importance of bolstering the Bulls ranks.

“We are going to have to change our model from quantity to quality and create two teams of Super Rugby quality to be able to handle and manage play loads and injuries. We have to stop exposing youngsters too quickly. You can’t handle this competition relying on a smearing of test players and expecting them to last a full season.”

With Duane Vermeulen and Schalk Brits rumoured to be joining the kraal next season, the Bulls may put their money where their mouth is but Mitchell needs to deliver.

The Jaguares

While reaching the playoffs under coach Mario Ledesma at his first attempt is undoubtedly a sign of progress, the Jaguares have a few big calls to make in the off-season. They are losing the steady hand, and foot, of flyhalf Nicolás Sanchez to Stade Francais. There are other areas to address.

“The boys can step up and by being more clinical. Especially at set pieces where there is a big, big gap between our best scrum and our worst scrum,” said Ledesma.

“The same with defending the driving maul. When you have a bad scrum you should still win the ball. We have to step up every department of our game.”