Sharks desperate to hit the ground running
Ken Borland
Sharks prop Juan Schoeman (right) sees everyone in the team as a leader, but it would be silly for the KwaZulu-Natal outfit not to look at their senior core to lead the way when they start their Currie Cup campaign against the Blue Bulls in Durban on Saturday.
Schoeman appeared in all 17 of the Sharks’ Super Rugby games, usually as the back-up to loosehead kingpin Tendai Mtawarira, and is one of those core players, along with the likes of Cameron Wright, Curwin Bosch, Daniel du Preez, Kobus van Wyk, Louis Schreuder, Marius Louw, Robert du Preez and Tyler Paul. Springboks Jean-Luc du Preez and Lwazi Mvovo have also been released back to the Sharks and they would be stupid not to use them against a Blue Bulls side that marked themselves out as contenders on the opening weekend.
“Every person is a leader in our team and if everyone steps up then it brings the unit together. And it’s important that we play as a unit and that every individual brings their A-game.
“The Currie Cup is definitely an opportunity for guys to step up and improve even more from last season. The new guys have a big responsibility to use this chance to its full potential,” Schoeman said.
The Sharks, losing finalists last year, were hammered 47-12 by the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in the first round of last year’s competition, but they did not lose again until the final round-robin fixture against Western Province in Durban, who then beat them again at Kings Park in the final. But the Currie Cup is down from 14 rounds to just eight this year, so it is imperative that teams start well.
“There’s no second chances in this year’s competition, you have to start well from the first game, winning from the start is very important because it’s such a short season.
“If you lose your first two games, you’re out. Fortunately we had a good warm-up game against a very experienced Bordeaux side, so being able to see where we needed to improve has helped, it’s given us a platform and got our engines going,” Schoeman said.