Seniors keeping youngsters calm
EXPERIENCED DUO SETTLING US DOWN Sharks fullback has had a meteoric rise from club rugby.
The high stakes of the Currie Cup final are foreign to many of the Sharks youngsters, but it is the senior players who have played in the showpiece event before who are settling the nerves ahead of the big clash with Western Province in Durban on Saturday.
Fullback Garth April is one of those final rookies and it is hard to believe that just two years ago he was playing club rugby in Cape Town.
“I played in the Gold Cup final two years ago, but this is definitely a step up. There are definitely nerves and there’s a huge difference in knockout rugby, with more intensity and pressure. But the senior guys like Odwa Ndungane and Keegan Daniel who have been there before are trying to keep everything under control and settling us down,” April said on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old says there is also tremendous excitement in the team at the prospect of playing in a Currie Cup final in front of the home fans at King’s Park.
“We’re very excited to play at home in front of our fans, it’s huge for us and we’ve worked so hard for it the last 13 weeks, especially since we haven’t played in a semifinal for the last two years. So we must just keep calm and do what we’ve been doing for the last 13 weeks, because that’s what has worked for us,” April said.
The 80kg April certainly has an eye for the gap and beautiful ballskills, but he will also be one of the targets of a brilliant Western Province defence that has been aggressive in turning defence into turnover opportunities.
“Western Province have always had an exciting backline and been good out wide, but they are a bit more defensive-driven at the moment, having thrown the ball around more at the start of the season. They come at you, they defend very well and it’s tough to keep the ball for long phases, but that’s what we have to do – keep the ball,” April said.