Michael Horak
Cell C Sharks defensive coach, Michael Horak, is looking forward to the test an unstructured Toulon team can give the Sharks defensive line ahead of their warm-up match on Thursday.
The Sharks are in the latter stages of their preparation for a Super Rugby campaign that kicks off against the Cheetahs on 14 February.
They will face a Toulon side famous for its big names and dominating style of rugby as a warm-up match in order to get their systems and structures right.
However, Horak is of the opinion that the famously unstructured and star-focused Toulon side will be the right preparation for the Sharks to be able to face anything.
“The beauty of them is that they are are so star-studded that I don’t think they are that structured,” Horak said.
“It is not something you can look at and say ‘this is the exact threat that is coming’, you are going to have to cover many threats because they are a world class team with world class players.”
Horak has however noted that Toulon do have a number of devastating ball runners that can punch holes in his team’s defence.
“Toulon have got good carriers,” he continued.
“They have got big carriers all over the park in Juan Smith, Mathieu Bastareaud and the likes, devastating carriers.
“They are quiet a direct team.”
The Sharks may be playing their warm-up match in France during the middle of their winter with conditions they will not be used to, but the defensive coach is hoping his team can adjust to the slower game that is played in the Northern Hemisphere.
“In the Northern Hemisphere the ball is wet and the grounds are heavier,” Horak said of the conditions they are likely to expect in France.
“The passes are a little bit slower, here in South Africa, with the way they blow the game, quick ball is everything.”
rugby365
What odds a 0 – 0 draw?
“In the Northern Hemisphere the ball is wet and the grounds are heavier,”
Surely the ball will only be wet if it is raining or has recently been raining?
Has anyone actually weighed the grounds to determine that they actually are heavier?
@ Scrumdown:
Funny thing is that we always had to hear from Sharks supporters that their poor handling was caused by humidity… So surely they should be prepared for wet balls better than anyone 😆
Eish, we had Phase 2 Loadshedding today… power has been off for what seems like hours…
We heard it would be off till 23:00 tonight, but it just came on!
Result, in stead of working, I had a siesta… out on our wooden deck near the pool! A Good old, old fashioned “middagslapie”!
Problem is… till what small hours do I now work tonight?
The problem with loadshedding and Internet Connection is, not only does the ADSL go futt, but 3G reception from the Cell Towers go for a ball of shit too… just Edge signal in stead of full-blown 3G!
Was afraid it might be off during the rugby tonight and hopefully it is NOT!
Have been looking forward to the rugby!
OK, my 3 Big PC’s have restarted now too… so let me move over to the biggie on Steroids, right now!
I have Rugby news to do, Sharks Game Thread to build, Fixtures and Results Thread to build for the Wellington Sevens… and that is just the lekker stuff…
OK… let’s get started.. Toulon vs Cell C Sharks Live Game Article first…
Users Online
Total 77 users including 0 member, 77 guests, 0 bot online
Most users ever online were 3735, on 31 August 2022 @ 6:23 pm