Gold talks up season’s prospects
FIVE weeks after the Sharks suffered the indignity of failing to secure a semi-final place in the Currie Cup, director of rugby Gary Gold has pronounced himself “refreshed and re-energised” and working hard to make sure his team have an impact on next year’s Super Rugby competition.
“We’ve had a break,” said Gold, “but a lot of that time has been spent making plans with my new group of coaches.”
The Sharks squad will be announced today. The competition has been expanded to 18 teams in four conferences, two from Africa and two from Australasia. The Sharks are part of the Africa Conference 2 that also includes the Kings, the Lions and an Argentinian team.
Their first match is away to the Kings on February 27.
Gold said he welcomed the opportunity to work with his squad for the next three months without any match deadlines.
Unlike last year, when he found himself always preparing for the next match, he was now in a position where he could work on players’ core skills and techniques.
“We will have 28 sessions with the players before Super Rugby, and I know what we’re going to be doing in every one of them. It’s an opportunity for the coaches to really coach and make a difference.”
Asked if he had a blueprint in mind in terms of how the Sharks would play their rugby, Gold said he remained keen to stay away from making predictions.
“Our first priority is to return to winning ways.”
He did say, however, that he and his fellow coaches had a responsibility to encourage skills development.
“The days are gone when you could just defend yourself to a win because there are too many teams out there who will outscore you.
“We have a responsibility to equip our players with higher skills levels, and find ways to score tries.”
He didn’t deny that there was a lot of hard work ahead.
“Defence and attack have to improve drastically; in general all our fundamentals have got to improve.
“We’re looking at the squad of players we’ve got, and we’ll adapt our game plan around what we believe our strengths are.”
He said the All Blacks were the game’s new pathfinders, and it was imperative to improve players’ skill levels to match them.
Gold offered the breakdown as an example.
“We rarely speak about that, but they are the world leaders in the speed and efficiency at which they recycle the ball.
“The game is about numbers, mismatches and momentum: the quicker you can recycle the ball, the quicker you can outnumber the opposition in the field.”
Gold said the two new coaches in the group, Robert du Preez (skills and attack) and Omar Mouneimne (defence), had already brought new energy and an “edge” to the Sharks’ preparations.