Dithering dangers for the Sharks
SHARKS coach Robert du Preez, cut a disconsolate figure when he spoke to the media after Saturday night’s poor performance by his team in scratching to a fortunate 19-17 win against the Kings.
Nobody gave the Kings a hope in hell and it was supposed to be a romp for a Sharks team that the previous week had played excellent rugby in thrashing the Waratahs, and the week before had beaten the Brumbies in Canberra.
But the Kings almost won, mostly because the Sharks did not pitch up for work.
All week there had been talk in the Sharks camp about respecting the Kings and the need to blow them away in the opening 20 minutes to snuff out any chance of an upset.
But it did not sink in, and this match was a classic case of underestimating the opposition and expecting a bonus-point win to simply happen.
“It was messy and we are definitely not happy with how we played,” a grim-faced Du Preez said.
“To be honest everything we spoke about in the week (about not underestimating the Kings), and did in the training sessions regarding starting strongly and not letting them in, just did not happen in the game. Everything we planned, and seemed to have digested, did not happen, and the Kings got going and we were in a fight for the win.”
The Kings led until the 71st minute and grew ever confident as the Sharks dithered from the start.
Du Preez said he was unsure whether it came down to the team being mentally flat after three big games against Australian teams, two of which the Sharks won.
“I don’t know. We had a very good week, we had good training sessions. I said to the
pictured,
players do not underestimate them, but I guess that to a degree that happened,” he said.
“I hope it is a big wake up call for the guys,” the coach continued. “It is disappointing that we played badly at home before a big crowd and disappointed our fans. It is almost like we took a step backwards but I am confident that the guys will step for the Cheetahs this week (in Bloemfontein).”
In other words, we can rest assured that the players have had a roasting from the coaching staff.
Questions have been asked as to the performance of 20-year-old debutant Benhard Janse van Rensburg, in for injured Patrick Lambie, who was picked ahead of Currie Cup flyhalf Inny Radebe.
Du Preez said that there were extenuating circumstances for the mistakes the youngster made in his 45 minutes of play. “We did not get the forward dominance we had hoped for, and that did not help Benhard, but he will have learned a lot from his debut,” du Preez said. “Garth April came on and played well, as did Michael Claassens (at scrumhalf).”
It remains to be seen whether Du Preez will give Janse van Rensburg another a chance against the Cheetahs or will start with April. Another option is to start with Curwin Bosch at 10 but this might depend on the fitness of fullback Clement Poitrenaud.
“Curwin’s kick at the end (to win the game, from 55m out) showed that he is a class act and that he can handle pressure,” Du Preez said, without giving too much away as to his plans for Bosch.
“An important factor is that we still managed to win the game and it is easier to rectify things from a winning platform that a losing one, but the truth is we were not good in this game,” he concluded. Chelsea . . . . . 28 Tottenham . . 28 Man City . . . . 28 Liverpool . . . . 29 Arsenal . . . . . 27 Everton . . . . . 29 Man United . 27 West Brom . . 29 Stoke City. . . 29 Bournemouth29 Southampton 27 West Ham. . . 29 Burnley . . . . . 29 Watford . . . . . 28 Leicester City 28 Crystal Palace 28 Swansea City 29 Hull City . . . . 29 Middlesbro’ . 28 Sunderland . 28 22 17 17 16 15 14 14 12 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 6 4 5 3 8 6 8 5 8 10 7 9 6 6 6 5 7 6 4 3 6 10 5 3 3 5 5 7 7 3 10 11 14 12 14 15 13 14 16 18 17 14 18 59 55 54 61 56 51 42 39 33 42 33 40 31 33 33 36 36 26 20 24 21 21 30 36 34 30 23 38 42 54 35 52 42 48 47 46 63 58 33 50 69 59 57 56 50 50 52 43 36 33 33 33 32 31 30 28 27 24 22 20