Gary Gold

After enduring a disappointing start to the season, Sharks coach Gary Gold has called on his side to ‘man-up’ and pull together.

Much is expected of a squad loaded with Springboks, but they have yet to realise their potential this season, with just 1 win from their first 4 games.

Gold said that the key to turning things around will be to remain united and take a hard look at which areas of their game are letting them down.

“This is certainly not the start we wanted in Super Rugby but it is important now to man-up and carry on with the fight.

“It is a long competition and we have got some work to do, no question of a doubt.

“There were some positives, but we need to temper that with being open and honest enough with the areas that are not functioning at the moment for us.

“It is going to be a helluva challenge, but I am excited about the challenge because we have a good group of guys and we are going to stick together in these tough times and hopefully that will gel us when the table turns,” he said.

With all the firepower at his disposal, Gold said that it is not about making changes to the team but rather technical adjustments to start winning.

“Just because there are 11 Springboks in the team doesn’t mean you are going to win, you must understand that with 11 Springboks the other team always raise their game.

“I am apprehensive to throw the baby out with the bathwater, some things haven’t been there but I think there have been elements to our game where we have shown good signs and we just need to be tough on ourselves to take those opportunities.

“I don’t think I can look at the team and say that they have an attitude problem or didn’t try hard. They were beaten by a better team,” he said.

The Sharks boss said that although he was disappointed when Frans Steyn was shown a Yellow Card to effectively put an end to his team’s chances, he had no problem with the way that referee Jaco Peyper handled the game.

“He was following through on the kick and it was unfortunate, but I understand that they are clamping down on collisions like that, but I thought it may have been a penalty.

“I must stress, I don’t want to moan about the ref, I thought Jaco had a very good game and I have got no problem with it at all,” he said.

There are minor injury concerns over Springboks Pat Lambie, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Willem Alberts, but Gold expects them all to be available for their clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein next week.

“Pieter-Steph hurt his shoulder and Willem is very tight so we will see how he goes and Patrick has got a knock but hopefully they will come through for the Cheetahs,” he said.

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