Scrum headache for beaten Sharks

DU PREEZ: IT’S TOUGH WHEN YOU’RE GOING BACKWARDS

Coach unhappy with side’s execution in the tight five.

The Sharks acknowledged an early wake-up call at the weekend in terms of their scrummaging woes being a threat to their Super Rugby hopes after their 26-19 defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park in their opening fixture.

The Sharks’ first scrum was a disaster, they were driven back so powerfully they were practically running backwards, and although the arrival of Tendai Mtawarira and John-Hubert Meyer in the second half brought more stability, there were still crucial penalties conceded.

Thomas du Toit is trying his hand at tighthead prop, having spent most of his promising career at loosehead, which is apparently the wishes of the as-yet unannounced Springbok management, and that move is doing nothing for the stability of the Sharks’ scrum, who also have to adapt to the new rules.

“Our lineout functioned well, but the set-piece is both lineout and scrum and you can’t play attacking rugby if both are not functioning together,” Sharks captain Ruan Botha said after the game.

“There was no consistency in the scrum and after that first scrum the guys battled to regain composure. It’s always tough trying to play when you’re going backwards. Thomas just needs time, he can only get better and there are always going to be obstacles along the way. He just needs game time at tighthead,” coach Robert du Preez said.

While the Lions said it was true that early-season rust had played a part in their performance, Du Preez was not willing to use that as an excuse for what he branded poor execution by his team.

“To lose in such a way was very frustrating, it was all down to execution. We created opportunities but we didn’t convert them, we lacked patience at crucial times and I’m not happy with that. Our mindset should be to finish off those chances, but we let them off the hook,” Du Preez said.