Sanjay's Rugby World

The Sharks have once again under achieved in this years Super 14.

After their 6th loss of the season at the hands of the Sharks, John Plumtree acknowledged the acquisition of 3rd Choice Brive flyhalf Andy Goode has been a disaster, and a valuable lesson for all the South African franchises.

“It’s something we have to look at and we need to recruit much better in future. It’s definitely a situation that can’t go on” said Sharks coach John Plumtree on Saturday after losing to the Bulls.

Well hello, that is hardly rocket science. Even before his arrival I questioned the wisdom of using a second rate Englishmen at the expense of developing a South African player.

Goode is a solid provincial player who does the basics well. His place kicking and line kicking is good, but he stands deep in the pocket, struggles to get his backline away, and is certainly not accustomed to playing a style that the Super 14 demands.

The Sharks were in a tough situation having lost Juan Martin Hernandez to injury before the season began, and then being hit with the shock retirement of Steve Meyer just before their first game. The foot injury to Guy Cronje did not help matters, but in Ruan Pienaar there was the Springboks second choice flyhalf, a player most teams would kill to have!

As I’ve mentioned before, surely Pienaar was the obvious solution at flyhalf? In his book “Captain in the Cauldron,” John Smit repeatedly mentions that the team comes before the individual. As Sharks captain, would that not be the manner in which the Sharks operate? With Rory Kockott at scrumhalf, and Pienaar’s international future unlikely to continue to scrumhalf, surely he was the obvious choice.

Instead the Sharks decided to recruit an unwanted Englishmen with no Super rugby experience. The Sharks commercial manager Rudolf Straeuli handles recruiting but surely he is not the only person at fault? John Plumtree on Monday admitted “I play a huge part in recruitment myself.”

Goode joined the side after the Sharks had lost their first 5 matches. What was the point in playing an Englishman in a side that was never realistically a semi-final chance?

Plumtree has also criticised his own administrators, but who was responsible for playing Goode against the Highlanders when he suffered a pre-match injury and was never 100%?

Goode is also not the reason the Sharks have one of the worst attacking records in the Super 14 – 18 tries in 11 games, with just the 1 solitary 4 try bonus point. The Sharks had a similar problem last year, and until they fix the problem of running laterally in the backline and failing get adequate go forward.

Now the Sharks are confirmed as out of the Super 14 race, it will be interesting to see what they do with Goode. The performances of Patrick Lambie show the value in giving youngsters opportunities.

Mind you this is not a new situation for the Sharks. Other than Butch James and Henry Honniball the Sharks have struggle for quality flyhalves since the mid 1990′s. We’ve seen too many stop gap foreigners as the solution eg Tony Brown, Gregor Townsend, Juan Martin Hernandez, and none have helped the Sharks over an extended period of time.

With the success of the Sharks academy, surely a flyhalf can be found?

Looking at South Africa’s most successful province, the Bulls, ask yourself if the Bulls would ever buy a foreign flyhalf?

The answer to this question provides the lesson to the Sharks, and also the Lions. The question is, will they learn the lesson?

The Sharks have acquired the services of English flyhalf Andy Goode for the remainder of the 2010 Super 14.

Have the Sharks lost the plot?

Goode has been playing for Brive in France and will join the squad ahead of the Sharks 5 match tour to Australasia.

In recent years the Sharks have had numerous foreign flyhalfs. Frederic Michalak, Gregor Townsend and Juan Martin Hernandez. How has it helped the Sharks? Where are the local flyhalves? What are the long term plans to develop a South African player for this position?

Since the retirement of Henry Honniball the Sharks have struggled in this position, but they have not helped tehemselves. The Sharks academy has produced plenty of young talent. Why not flyhalf?

I question the wisdom of acquiring Goode. Even in the northern hemisphere he is widely regarded as a bit of a journeyman, a stop gap measure to fill a hole.

He will join the Sharks with no Southern Hemisphere rugby experience. It’ll take him at least 2-3 weeks to get familiar with the Sharks and super rugby. By that stage the Sharks season will be over anyway. What message does that send to Ruan Pienaar and his flyhalf aspirations (if he has any left).

The Sharks should stop kidding themselves. They can’t win the Super 14, in fact they’ll be lucky to finish in the top half. Develop a flyhalf! Now! You have to start somewhere, otherwise they’ll be back at step 1 come Currie Cup time. I don’t think they seem to get it!

The Bulls meanwhile have shown their professionalism in releasing lock Wilhelm Steenkamp to the Sharks for the remainder of the Super 14.

Injuries to Johan Muller and Gerhard Mostert have left the Sharks seriously short of locks. The Bulls have a never ending supply of brilliant locks with Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha (due to return from injury soon), Danie Rousouw, Flip van der Merwe, and Fudge Mabeta. It’s a wise decision to help out another franchise and allow him some quality playing time and the chance to learn from other players.

I am sure Steenkamp will learn what a losing side is like and will be raring to return to a winning side once he comes back to Pretoria for the Currie Cup!

Steve Meyer has quit rugby for personal reasons.

Bizarre but true.

Meyer had been signed to fill a massive hole in the Sharks line-up after the injury to Juan Martin Hernandez. After just one warm-up match, he will no longer play for the Sharks.

According to close sources, Meyer and his father went to see Sharks CEO Brian van Zyl and told him Meyer did not want to continue his rugby career for personal reasons.

No one saw this coming, so I’m not sure what is is about. Would this have happened if Meyer was still playing for Perpignan, where he was quite happy for the last few seasons?

At 25 years of age, it seems a premature decision to pull the plug on a professional rugby career.

As the starting flyhalf named for Friday’s game against the Chiefs, the Sharks find themselves in disarray and now need to fall back on Monty Dumond, who has not impressed this season so far, and who really is not Super 14 game-breaking material.

I wrote in my Sharks Super 14 preview and round 1 preview, that  last season the wheels fell off mid-season, but that this year I anticipate they’ll fall off much earlier.

With Johan Muller leaving overseas at the end of the Super 14, Albert van den Berg moving to Japan and now Meyer retiring, things do not look good for the Sharks. Add in the sage with Willem Alberts and Louis Ludik, and Sharks fans must be tearing their hair out and the season has not even begun!

I wish Steve Meyer all the best in whatever he does, I am sure this is not a decision he has made lightly. All the best to the Sharks also, they are going to need it! But I fear luck is not going to save this season!

The Sharks

Have a largely settled squad and numerous Springboks, including the Springbok captain John Smit.

However they lack the x-factor and the ability to win pressure games. In 2009 they started off brilliantly before losing their way mid season.

The weak points from 2009 remain. The lack of a decent flyhalf to give them direction, and a centre combination who can set up the attack and get the backline going.

The backline has good talent out wide with JP Pietersen, Odwa Ndungane, Luzuko Vulindlu and Stefan Terblanche. If Adi Jacobs is not injured and gets to play at 12, the Sharks have a chance, but unfortunately they need a centre who can run straight and put the outside backs into space. That hasn’t happened in the entire time I’ve seen John Plumtree in charge.

Steve Meyer is returning to Durban from Perpignan, but I still believe Ruan Pienaar is the Sharks best bet at flyhalf. He doesn’t seem to want to play there, and the lack of direction he has when playing for the Sharks is a worry. I fear John Plumtree doesn’t want to work with the players in the best interests of the national side.

The loss of Francois Steyn probably won’t hurt them, with better all round players available instead.

In the forwards the Sharks will still have a formidable pack. They’ll miss Albert van den Berg more they they thought but there are still plenty of Springboks in the front row, locks and loose forwards. With that sort of personnel you’d expect much better results. it shows the coach is not getting the best out of this side. They lack the close bond, pride and passion of a side like the Bulls.

Their attitude is apparent when they always complain that summer conditions in Durban do not allow running rugby and make the ball slippery. It’s the same in Brisbane and yet I’ve never heard the Reds complain. Actually I’ve never heard the oppostition complain in Durban either! To win the Super 14 you can’t make excuses!

On paper this is a good side, on the field a poor one. It will be a long season for the Sharks. They’ll no doubt win games we don’t expect them to, and lose the ones they shouldn’t.

Watch out for: Their new uniform. A throw back to the 90′s with a black strip and sponsored by Reebok. it may be their highlight of the season!

Prediction: Middle of the pack

Springbok captain John Smit will also captain the Sharks in the 2010 super 14.

In recent years Smit has not been the first choice captain as Johan Muller and Stefan Terblanche have captained the Sharks at Super 14 and Currie Cup level.

However Sharks coach John Plumtree has opted for Springbok captain John Smit. It’s a great move in my opinion as the Sharks have tended to lack direction at crucial stages of their campaigns recently, and when you have one of the best captains in world rugby in your side, why not use him!

Some may argue the burden of captaincy when he is already captaining the national side is possibly too much. I disagree as true leaders want to lead and Smit’s general play has never suffered.

Sharks coach John Plumtree had this to say, “It was obviously a tough decision to make, considering the exceptional work put in by Johann Muller and Stefan Terblanche over the last two years. John Smit is widely acknowledged as the best captain in world rugby and is an exceptional leader. With the three of them being good mates, he will continue to have the full backing of Johann and Stefan and all the players are very supportive of this decision.”

Meanwhile Smit said, “I am very conscious of the fact that I can call upon the advice and input from two great leaders in Johann and Stefan, making my job so much easier.”

If anything it may signal the intentions of Plumtree as I would not think it makes sense to have Smit as captain if he is not going to play almost every game and the majority of the games. The question is which position does Plumtree have in mind? Hooker or tighthead prop?

I’m guessing Smit will be considered predominantly at tighthead prop because if he was to play hooker and ‘job share’ with , , I am sure Plumtree would have considered a different captain.

Here’s hoping the Sharks have a great season. I suggest the more John Smit is on the field, the greater the Sharks success in 2010!

The Sharks Argentinian flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez has been ruled out of the 2010 Super 14 because of a back injury.

He was due to join up with after

It could be a blessing in disguise for the Sharks as he is the one player I felt inhibited the Sharks chances. The other that strongly helps the Sharks cause, provided he plays flyhalf is Ruan Pienaar.

It may force coach John Plumtree to play Pienaar at flyhalf as he will only have Monty Dumond (at least initally as young Guy Cronje recovers from foot surgery) as backup.

There are many who don’t believe Pienaar should play flyhalf, but last year I felt although Pienaar was more solid than spectacular, it was no coincidence that once he was injured the Sharks lost their direction on the field and began their slide from number 1 log position to also rans.

With Hernandez fit, I believe Pienaar would have struggled to get game time as a flyhalf and was being considered as a scrumhalf. Hopefully we’ll be forced to see Pienaar play at flyhalf and South Africa’s best interests taken to heart.

He’ll be aided by the guidance of one of Natal”s great fullbacks Hugh Reece-Edwards (the new backline coach) who has been lured back into the coaching ranks by John Plumtree. Reece-Edwards was unceremoniously dumped after the disastrous Super 12 campaign in 2000. As one of the great running fullbacks, hopefully we’ll see his influence on the Sharks backline which I feel has become too lateral and needs some straight hard running to utilise the wonderful talent they have in the ranks.

The early prediction I had of the Bulls and Stormers carrying South Africa’s Super 14 hopes may just have added another contender!

The Sharks have launched their new jersey for the 2010 Super 14, with Reebok the key sponsor.

New Sharks Super 14 Jersey 2010

In a move that reminds us of the successful era in the 90′s, Reebok are back as the major apparel sponsor, and the Sharks strip is back to the traditional black.

Compared to the 2009 jersey, the white side panels have been removed, and the collar has a new shape. Compared to some of the grey jumpers of recent times, I think it’s a great move back to a traditional strip.

Many will argue that the colour of the strip should have little bearing on a side. Whilst true in theory, it is no coincidence that the more successful sides take pride in their strip and want to play for the jersey. Just look at how much passion the Bulls players have for their beloved light blue uniform!

The people of Natal, and all Sharks supporters have always identified with the Black and White. Make sure you get behind the Sharks this year and get your official supporters gear from the Shark Cage for the 2010 season!