Major reconstruction

Win or lose today, the Sharks are building something good

THIS time last year, the Sharks’s race was already run. The play-offs were merely something that was happening to other teams, and in Durban people were left wondering what had gone wrong.

Today, the Sharks have proven they have gone one better – and can still go two, or even three better. But, as it stands, has it been a successful season?

The feeling around Durban is not one brimful of optimism. Some critical results have not gone the Sharks’s way, and many performances, even the winning ones, have been below par for a team that is expected to be one of the best.

But as has often been repeated over the past two seasons, this is a team in transition – both on the field and, more recently, off the field. A Super Rugby trophy was never promised by the coach in his second year, only progress.

On the face of it, there has been improvement, and the numbers back that up. Nine wins out of 15 beats last year’s seven wins out of 16, and eighth (out of 18) on the log looks far better than 11th (out of 15).

Five of those games this year were against New Zealand opposition, three of them in the land of the long white cloud, and 11 points came out of that with wins over the Highlanders and the Hurricanes. Not even the mighty Lions could do better, only picking up 10 points in their five games against the Kiwis.

The Sharks have led a campaign this year centred on the idea of the “New Generation Sharks”, essentially bringing to the fore that they have a young squad. And many of these youngsters have really put up their hands.

The Du Preez brothers, Jean-Luc and Daniel, have stepped up incredibly well at only 20 years old, as have 22-year-olds André Esterhuizen and Stefan Ungerer.

Hyron Andrews is still considered an under-21 player, Franco Marais and Etienne Oosthuizen are only 23, Stephan Lewies is 24, and there are a host of even younger stars coming through, such as Curwin Bosch at 19.

Even on the coaching side, major strides have been made. Omar Mouneimne’s effect is tangible on the Sharks’s defence. It was a huge problem last year, and this season it has become their biggest strength. Robert du Preez is a Sharks man of the highest note, having been part of the magical team of the 1990s, and does not suffer fools gladly.

Fortunately, the exodus of some world-class players has actually done the Sharks good. Brothers Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis were not good team men, and neither were Frans Steyn and Willem Alberts.

The biggest advancement for the Sharks came most recently, just as the team jetted off to Wellington. Another Sharks legend on the field, Gary Teichmann, was announced as the chief executive to replace John Smit, and the feeling in Durban is that it is a good move.

Teichmann appears to have incredible business acumen, taking his company, Teichmann Civils and Plant Hire, from a turnover of R300 000 to more than R150 million.

Many people are still demanding huge change at the Sharks on the field, and applauding change at boardroom level before it has even been tested.

There is a loud call for Gold to go, but perhaps he needs more time. If people had listened to Johann Ackermann’s naysayers in his first few years, this country would have missed out on the incredible rugby story of the Lions’s success.

The Sharks are making strides, and they are making them in the right direction. But perhaps only a win in Wellington today will really get people to see that.