Exciting times for 'young' Sharks

The Sharks are hepped up about the new breed of players likely to come through in the upcoming Currie Cup season.

While winning the coveted golden trophy remains the primary goal for all teams, the Sharks – who have donated eight players to the Springboks, with another handful having departed abroad – are looking to their youth structures to provide the depth they will need in next year's Super Rugby competition.

Sharks assistant coach Sean Everett, speaking to rugby365 ahead of their first-round trip to Kimberley for an encounter with Griquas, said the biggest challenge for all the teams is the depth of their squads.

"With the Springboks out [of the Currie Cup competition] that gets tested to the full," he said.

"We fully support that [taking the Boks out of the Currie Cup]. As far as the Sharks are concerned, if we have a run of injuries we are fortunate that we can turn to our junior structures."

The Sharks are fortunate that they are able to call on quite a few guys who got an opportunity in Super Rugby and then there is a guy like Stephan Lewies, who already got a Springbok call-up.

While those guys will add valuable experience, there is definitely an opportunity for new faces to come through and prove that they can make the step up to Super Rugby level.

Everett said one of their goals, apart from retaining their Currie Cup title, is to develop additional players so that, come February next year, they will be able to step up to Super Rugby level.

He said he is also keen to see a number of the new faces that will come into the Currie Cup spotlight.

"We used quite a few youngsters in Super Rugby – guys that will now have an opportunity to put their hands up, like lock Etienne Oosthuizen," the backline coach told rugby365.

"There's a youngster, Francois Kleinhans, that has been in our system for the last two, three years and came through the junior ranks," he said of the 23-year-old loose forward that will play off the bench against Griquas.

"There's a young scrumhalf people would not have heard much of, Hanco Venter. He played a bit of Super Rugby, but didn't get much time on the field," he said of a player that was a member of the South African Under-20 squad last year.

"There's another scrumhalf, Cameron Wright," he said of a No.9 described as "versatile and consistent" and also came through the Sharks' age-group systems.

"They will now get their opportunity, because Cobus [Reinach] is with the Springboks and Charl McLeod has gone off to France.

"We've also signed a new lock, [Boland import] JC Astle, who has done really well at training.

"We'll be very interested to see what he is about.

"It is exciting times for those guys and it is an opportunity for them," Everett said, adding: "It is the next level for those players."

By Jan de Koning