Jake White

The loss of some stalwarts to overseas clubs since the end of the Super Rugby season is making life tough for the young coaches who are going it alone for the first time at the helm of the Cell C Sharks in this Absa Currie Cup season.

Director of rugby Jake White has opted to take a back seat and not have any involvement with the Sharks senior team in the domestic season so that he can focus on the development of the players in the age-group teams as well as give head coach Brad MacLeod-Henderson and his assistants Sean Everitt and Paul Anthony the chance to experience the pressure that comes with being in charge

SuperSport

MacLeod-Henderson was credited with the Sharks’ success in last year’s Currie Cup as he was officially the head coach, but it was no secret that although he kept out of the media limelight, the then director of rugby Brendan Venter was controlling everything and coaching the coaches as much as he was coaching the team.

The heat is well and truly on the new coaches as they do have a hard act to follow in that not only did they go into the season as champions, they also have a rich tradition of Sharks success in the regular season to live up to.

The loss of players to the Springboks during the domestic season is not new to the Sharks, but when John Plumtree was in charge he usually made a successful transition from Super Rugby to Currie Cup, as evidenced by a record that reflects that in Plumtree’s six years as coach, the Sharks topped the log four times.

So far the Sharks are not living up to that, as they are only just in the semifinal frame as the halfway point of the season arrives. And they have a tougher second half to a campaign that has so far included only matches against smaller unions. Starting slowly is nothing new, for it often happened in the Plumtree era, but by this stage of the season Plumtree’s teams were usually showing signs of progress.

That is arguably not the case now, with the Sharks only making any impression on the Pumas last week in the third quarter, when ironically they were down to 14 men and were forced to dig deep.

However, in some senses comparing the current Sharks teams to the ones that Plumtree worked with may not be comparing apples with apples as in the past there was invariably a core of experienced players left over for Currie Cup duty once the Springbok calls were made.

Players such as Johan Muller, Steven Sykes, Jean Deysel and Keegan Daniel would often miss out on national selection and thus be available to lead the group in the Currie Cup. Muller was in fact the captain when the Sharks broke a long trophy drought by winning the coveted cup in 2008, and Daniel was there for the later successes in 2010 and 2014.

However, all of those men have now moved on, the latter two only recently, and they were joined in the departure hall of King Shaka International Airport by one of the star players in two of those winning finals, veteran scrumhalf Charl McLeod.

If you consider that Deysel was the captain when Daniel wasn’t available or was rested in previous Currie Cup seasons, and that McLeod was periodically used as a team leader too, that has left the Sharks with a large hole when it comes to leadership. It is also only a year since Craig Burden, another experienced player in the Currie Cup group, moved overseas.

Add to that the departure of aggressive second row forward Anton Bresler, who also headed overseas at the conclusion of Super Rugby, and it becomes more understandable that the Sharks appear to be struggling.

“We have a young group this year, we don’t have the experience we have had in other Currie Cup seasons,” said assistant coach Everitt in trying to explain last week’s 32-22 defeat to the Pumas at Mbombela Stadium.

“We don’t feel we’re that far off. When I mention that guys are inexperienced, I mean it is because there are quite a few who are either in their first or second season of Currie Cup. The more they play, the better they will get. It’s up to them to step up, perform in the Currie Cup, and prove they are ready to play Super Rugby next year.”

Still, the way the Sharks were outplayed for large portions of last Friday’s match by a team that is new to the higher level of Currie Cup rugby was disturbing as with next year being a World Cup year, there is expected to be a limit placed on the amount of time contracted Springboks can spend on the field during Super Rugby. The specifics are still being negotiated between SARU and the provincial unions / franchises.

More than that, 2015 could also be the swansong at the Durban union for most if not all of the celebrated Springboks who have fronted the Sharks’ challenge over the past few years, with the lure of finishing off careers earning foreign currency after the World Cup likely to be strong.

That means this should be the time when the Sharks are working hard on their succession planning, something that is not proceeding without hiccup if you note that both the Sharks age-group teams are underperforming.

Sharks fans will be hoping that Everitt is right and that the Currie Cup players will mature during the season or the immediate on-field future of the Sharks might start to look a little bleak.