Former Blue Bulls flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter says that the Sharks have the right mix of playing style which will help them in the upcoming Super Rugby season.

The former Free State Cheetah left the Bulls earlier this year to join the Sharks and is fitting in well in Durban and says that the Sharks are similar to the Bulls in their set up.

“It’s a lot like the Bulls, there is the same kind of family focus here with strong bonds, there is a good thing going on here.

“The training is similar, a lot of fitness and conditioning work. It’s really top notch and Mark Steele is a really good conditioner and what I like is that everyone is able to offer their opinion.

“And having just won the Currie Cup, there is obviously something great going on here. Not many teams have won the trophy twice in three years.”

Having moved from Pretoria – once voted the worst place to visit in the Super Rugby circuit – to Durban Potgieter is enjoying his new home, “I must say, waking up and seeing the ocean every morning is a great sight and my wife really enjoys it. Aside from the two years I spent with Free State in Bloemfontein, I’ve lived in Pretoria all my life where there is no ocean, just traffic! This is a lovely setting and I’m enjoying it.”

The Sharks are one of two South African Super Rugby teams being coached by a New Zealander and under John Plumtree the Sharks are playing a fast attacking game which Potgieter enjoys.

“I really like it, the adjustment to the laws of the game that the attacking team have the advantage, it made the game more of a spectacle. You’re going to get good crowds as well because it’s running rugby, rugby that people want to see – not kick and chase, kick and chase.

“Obviously there are times when you have to kick, but I’m all for keeping the ball in hand, I love it. It’s how we played at the Cheetahs and I’m looking forward to playing it again.”

Potgieter struggled to get game time with the Bulls who hardly rotated their squad in 2010 at all but he believes that the new structure of the Super 15 will force teams to rotate their squads more which hopefully means more game time for him.

“As the first season of the new competition it’s going to be interesting and the timing of rotation critical,” he said on the Sharks site.

“I think a team with a good rotational policy will really benefit from it.”

Potgieter believes that the 2010 Currie Cup champions are in a good postion for the 2011 Super 15 Rugby tournament.

“For sure. They beat a full-strength Blue Bulls side in the semi-final and that’s a big feather in their cap; against a team rated as one of the best provincial sides in the world and Super 14 champions, that’s a huge achievement.

“And to have got as far as they did with a lot of players away with the Springboks is also worth mentioning.”

I believe The Sharks have the right mix between the New Zealand and South African styles, taking the best from the two.”