April may march into Springbok side in June
WITH Allister Coetzee having to scratch his head in his search for depth at flyhalf for the Springboks, Sharks pivot Garth April is throwing his name into the hat for consideration for the Boks’ mid-year tests.
A gutsy Sharks went down 2224 to the Chiefs in a Super Rugby clash at Yarrow Stadium in New Zealand on Friday, but seeing 24year-old April grow into the No 10 jersey is a positive Gary Gold’s men can take from the tour.
Just last weekend, April showed nerves of steel as he helped the Sharks to a 15-14 victory over defending champions the Highlanders in Dunedin.
On Friday, he was again at the forefront as the Sharks ran the Chiefs to the last minute of the match in which April claimed 12 (including a try) of the 22 points scored by the Durbanites.
“Last week he stood up as he scored a full house of points,” Sharks stand-in captain Keegan Daniel said after Friday’s match.
“He was again outstanding and put his hand up. With Pat Lambie coming back [from injury] soon, it shows that we have some depth at flyhalf at the Sharks. Garth is really looking good.”
After last weekend’s moraleboosting win over the defending champions the Sharks were expected to go into the match against the Chiefs with their tails up and full of confidence.
But the Durbanites had a nervous start in New Plymouth.
It took just 55 seconds to get the wind out of the Sharks’ sails when a missed tackle by centre Andre Esterhuizen resulted in bulky Fijian winger Seta Tamanivalu opening the scoring.
While a Garth April penalty in the eighth minute should have settled the nerves, the kickoff following the Sharks’ first points added to the early errors made by the visitors as loose forward Daniel du Preez fumbled the take which could have resulted in the Chiefs adding to their early points tally.
Despite another try by the Chiefs — this time from No 8 Michael Leitch — the Sharks forged a fightback to go into the half-time break with the two sides on equal footing at 15-all, thanks to tries by hooker Kyle Cooper and April.
Discipline let the Sharks down in the second half as they had to again fight back at the end in an attempt to clinch a second win on tour.
“We hung in there after being 15-3 down at some stage. It was discipline that let us down,” said Daniel. “However, after getting six points from the tour we can be satisfied. We now need to look back and regroup when we return home.”
The Sharks next face the Hurricanes in Durban next week.