Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira
Jannie du Plessis
The return of the 2 experienced Springbok props, Beast Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis, are the only things that the Vodacom Bulls should take for granted about the Cell C Sharks team they will clash with in their Super Rugby derby in Durban at the weekend.
The Sharks did not train on Monday, as was the case the previous week, and at Tuesday’s training session those who watched it struggled to make out what director of rugby Gary Gold is planning for Saturday – except that the 2 Bok props will definitely be back.
No 8 Ryan Kankowski missed last week’s clash with the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg after pulling out following the captain’s practice. He is fit to face the Bulls but apparently he and Renaldo Bothma, who played at No 8 against the Lions and did well there, rotated during the training session. It is also not clear if JP Pietersen, the other fit Bok to miss the Lions clash, will be back in the starting team.
What does appear clear is that hooker Kyle Cooper and fullback SP Marais, 2 stalwart foot soldiers at the Sharks over the past few seasons, have fallen out of favour. Even though Bismarck du Plessis is out suspended and will be for another week, Cooper did not feature in the match day 23 last week – and it looks like he will miss out again for the Bulls.
Odwa Ndungane appeared to offer a different attacking dynamic for the Sharks from fullback against the Lions and he is expected to continue in that role against the Bulls.
Willem Alberts, after completing a solid 1st half performance against the Lions, is likely to continue in the No 7 jersey against the Bulls, with him and the 2 Bok props likely to be heavily relied on to offset the loss of Bismarck du Plessis and Pieter-Steph du Toit since the Sharks played the Bulls in the 1st Round match in Pretoria.
SuperSport
@ Angostura:
Frankie sure can rock the shit out of a pair of aviators.
😆
30 & 31 @ gunther:
😆
@ Angostura:
Mind you the other day I ead avoid some civil servant / deployed cadre who spent 3 years suspended on full pay and was now returning to his “job”.
So anything is possible.
Well, if this comes into being, Sharks will immediately be better off, because the 3 main protagonists will refuse to sign that clause and will leave the Sharks. Just look at the passion and guts this so called side in disarray displayed against my team last Saturday. And they had their 3 so called big guns either rested or banned.
Sound like an empty thread driven by the desire of the owner to score with the social media?
Rugby is a game of vicious hits, there is no clear cut, consistent ruling on the field to determine which hit is a transgression and which one is legal?
I doubt the Sharks’ owner will walk the walk on his rhetoric, if he will then the team will get dysfunctional in a hurry
Hondo wrote:
How would you even notice the difference?
Sensing that this is some sort of a ‘Eureka!-week’ for The Sharks I came across 2 important articles this week; here are some snippets that sound remarkably similar:
Firstly, Morné via Rob Otto:
“Big thanks to my pal Morne for helping with this analysis – and I’m going to quote him directly to sum up. “If you get the three things right in defence: alignment, spacing and communication, you achieve one very simple goal, you take away space from the attacking side. If you close down or get in between the spaces they attack they cannot go anywhere – that is how you defend for 20+ phases. Simple systems, hard work, proper communication. The Sharks seem to have no system, do not work hard, and there is clearly no communication.”
A pretty damning assessment, but not far off the mark. Let’s hope that in between all the talk of character, we’re doing some talking about defence as well.”
http://www.sharksworld.co.za/2015/04/13/time-to-take-action-on-defence/
Secondly, Brendan Venter in his weekly column:
“Never before had I coached a team where defence wasn’t my starting point … the core problem, never previously addressed, is that the Sharks defence is just not up to standard … I take responsibility for not putting defensive principles in place from the start … I genuinely thought that the defensive legacy left behind by White would survive but I was wrong … I also realised I didn’t talk to the playing personnel about staying square on defence and not turning their hips. I also never addressed keeping their alignment and spacing in place. Perhaps I took the defensive facet for granted because its much easier and far less time consuming than attack to implement.”
88
Read both articles which go quite in depth into the defensive frailties of the Sharks …
{But, seriously, did it take 9 rounds of league action for the coaches to realise (& hopefully start remedying) the problem?}
Sorry here’s the link to Brendan’s article (which was also posted here yesterday, but for another purpose):
http://www.supersport.com/rugby/blogs/brendan-venter/No_effort_without_error
@ Angostura:
Do you think Brendan is having a go at the assistant coaches for not doing their job?
No man, this is becomming silly to the extreme… we have another spell of fucking loadshedding!
Hey, please tell me I am not the only one going through this crap??
Are you guys also affected daily now?
This country is going to the dogs at a rate of knots!!
@ grootblousmile:
Touch wood….ons kry gelukkig min.
Vanmiddag oppad terug by Sasolburg gestop, die hele dorp omtrent tot stilstand, hulle beurt gewees.
Dis nou maar n daagliks e ding meeste plekke en ek hoor hulle se dit gaan vir die volgende 2 jaar so aanhou (maw ten minste 10 jaar)
Every day
😥
for the next two years
Welcome to the revolution
@ MacroBull:
#27 Hi MacroBull guess it depends on who you consider to be the clubs biggest ‘assets’ (for want of a better word), players, supporters, shareholders, sponsors? Interesting you mention sponsors, if I was a sponsor I wouldn’t want my brand associated with some of the thuggery that has been going on…
nortie wrote:
Wag net nog 2-10 jaar vir Medupi om op lyn te kom
Daily … 2 hours at the office, 2 hours at home – just finished my spell in darkest africa at 20h00 …
This is very disruptive
39 @ MacroBull:
I don’t know what he’s doing – it is supposedly a mea culpa (which is quite self-deprecating, humble & self-incriminatory at 1st glance), but it does create a sense of lingering unease in a perceptive reader trying to interpret some subliminal message he is trying to convey. He specifically exculpates Gold, Horak & the players, & takes the sole blame upon himself (a strange thing for a mere consultant to do). But to me he seems to convey a hidden message that he was acting contrary to his nature, track record and better judgment by ignoring defence and focusing on attack. The inference is that someone else coerced him to do that. Since he specifically exonerates Gary Gold, & since the assistant coaches don’t have that kind power over him, it leaves one with a feeling that he may be pointing fingers at the CEO, the Chairman and/or the Board – take your pick. Be that as it may, Brendan’s written communication seems somewhat out of place in a media op-ed whilst he is still contracted to the franchise which is the topic of his critical analysis/discussion; aren’t these matters perhaps better discussed in confidential reports to the Defence Coach, Director of Rugby, CEO &/or Chairman of the Board rather than in public? Is defence only now half way through the tournament going to receive thorough attention and who is responsible for THAT? For a man who apparently does not want to grant media interviews regarding the Sharks, he cuts quite close to (the Sharks) cartilage in his column …
Personally I have an uneasy feeling about the multitude of coaches & the new management regime at The Sharks: Who is ultimately accountable? Where does the buck stop? Specifically, who is accountable for the mess that is The Sharks 2015? Surely, that cannot be a mere itinerant consultant that doesn’t even have a fixed contract?
48 @ Angostura:
Read my mind… Very odd column with tons of subliminal messages… A virtual F.U. to someone…
MacroBull wrote:
Yeah, a pre-resignation hoisting of the Jolly Roger & a shot across the bow – that’s my impression.
@ Bullscot:
No one wants to be associated with thuggery and no one should tolerate it… buts a world of keeping up appearances.
In principle the idea is awesome… but it is a shot in the dark.
Why has no one in rugby (that I know of) gone to this measures? Especially when it is a matter of SARugby fighting to keep their players.
In 2009 Shcalk Burger got banned for 8 weeks for eye gouging, while they decided it was unintentional but reckless.
How will you dock someone 2 months pay for doing something unintentional?
and if an internal disciplinary lowers the sanctions it will be even more hell for the union.
Well just like Keo said, at least eveyone is happy
Durban – The chairperson of the Sharks board, Stephen Saad, has lauded CEO John Smit after an improvement in the union’s finances in the last year.
At a recent KZNRU AGM, the consolidated accounts showed a financial turnaround of nearly R22m in a single year and the largest part of this turnaround can be attributed to the Sharks’ financial improvements.
“John has not only managed his expenses well and implemented the needed governance, but has been instrumental in driving the sponsorship revenue,” Saad told the Sharks’ official website.
“This was sorely needed to underpin the investment we need to make in our squad to help impact the future strength of Sharks Rugby.
“On the rugby front, the Board does recognise that we are not where we would like to be, but need to acknowledge that John and his team, in less than two years, have won a Currie Cup, been in a Currie Cup Semi Final with their very young squad, and topped the SA conference in Super Rugby last year for the first time, probably making the Sharks the best performing of any franchise.
“We wish John and his team well for the rest of the season.”
Meanwhile, Saad also confirmed the union’s intentions to implement further internal penalties to players who are suspended for foul play.
“The Sharks board agree that red cards and dirty play are neither acceptable nor do we condone that such behaviour be associated with the Sharks brand.
“At the board meeting, we endorsed the executive management’s suggestion that the current censure is inadequate and can confirm that further sanction on the players has been taken over and above that served from SANZAR.”
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15/Smit-lauded-for-improving-Sharks-finances-20150416
Hellloooooooooooooo
Ek sien weer, daar is lig… die TV’s werk, die compu-fokken-tors hardloop weer… my swembadpomp se flokken horlosie was in sy moer in laat gewees en die swembadpomp het innie nag nog water na die flokken sonpanele (in die flippen nag) gepomp.
Klaar flippen take-aways geeet…
… en nou moet ek 3 ure se kragverlore werk inhaal, na ek vanmiddag ook effe rondgefok het deur aandag te laat gee aan my Blik Met Wiele se 4 Brake Disks en voor en agter se Brake Pads laat vervang het…
So, as gevolg vandag is ek nou NET 2 dae agter vir die week sovêr….
MacroBull wrote:
Easy (if it is reckless/grossly negligent)
Just ask Oscar Pistorius – he got 5 years of which he’ll do a minimum of 10 months, plus it cost him his house & a fortune more, his sponsorships & his career …
2 months’salary pales into insignificance, bru
Ek moet seker so bietjie Rugbynuus opsit, die Super Rugby Preview – Round 10 doen, die Weekend Teams doen… en die 7 Live Game Articles bou en skedulleer…. so laat ek beginne hop en perform!
… O, en ons loadshed weer van 05:00 tot 08:00 in die oggend… en Saterdagoggend gedurende Rugbytyd… tot 10:30 dink ek…
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