Sharks look to be more 'expansive'
CURRIE CUP SPOTLIGHT: New Sharks coach Sean Everitt says scoring tries will have a premium at the Durban-based franchise.
Everitt, who took over from Robert du Preez as head coach for the defending Currie Cup champions, admitted he hasn’t got much time to make strategic changes.
“We don’t have a long time to get these guys up to speed, but everyone will be familiar with the style of play and I’m confident they can handle themselves well,” he said in an interview on the Sharks website.
He has had some time to work with a number of junior players and since last week had the available members of his squad looking to perfect the style of play that suits the campaign, the players and the coaching philosophy.
In Super Rugby defence and tactical kicking were among the key elements that saw the Sharks reach the play-offs.
However, they will look to focus more on attack in the Currie Cup.
“We want to play an expansive style of rugby, not [a] 10-man [game],” Everitt said.
“There was an improvement on attack under [assistant coach] David Williams in Super Rugby and we’d like to continue with that approach.
“With the youngsters we have coming in, they’re going to be required to play that brand of rugby.
“We’re not going to change anything, but we would like to tweak a few things and certainly improve on performances.”
Being a World Cup year, the competition has been scaled down to just one round of matches – with the reigning champions, the Sharks, getting their defence underway against Challenge Cup champions Griquas at Kings Park on Friday.
The coach feels Griquas is not a team to be taken lightly.
“We’ve had some wonderful campaigns in the past, where we slipped up against Griquas,” Everitt said.
“The difference in those days was that the Currie Cup was a double round.
“This year it’s a single round, which means every game is pretty much a knock-out. If you do slip-up along the way, there could be major consequences.”
But assessing his squad, the Sharks coach believes he has the talent available to produce an exciting, successful campaign.
“The make-up of the team is slightly different from both Super Rugby and the Challenge Cup. We have a younger team. We have lost one or two to the Springboks, but the guys who will feature in Currie Cup have Super Rugby experience.”
Source: @TheSharksZA
