Sharks CEO adds his voice to Currie Cup quality debate
SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT: The Sharks Chief Executive Officer Eduard Coetzee has opened up about the challenges his team faced during the Currie Cup season.
The CEO took to Twitter to address the criticism levelled at the Currie Cup teams amid Covid-19 Coronavirus.
Many Currie Cup fans along with former Springbok coach Nick Mallet and former Lions coach Swys de Bruin have criticized the quality of rugby displayed during the Super Rugby Unlocked and Currie Cup.
Speaking on SuperSport’s show Final Whistle at the conclusion of the Currie Cup round-robin, Mallett wasn’t impressed with the standard of rugby particularly after seeing the New Zealand teams play in Super Rugby Aotearoa in 2020.
“It’s difficult not to be a little bit negative on the performances of our teams quite frankly,” Mallett said.
While De Bruin lamented the predictability of the current approach at set-piece, which is to use resets to ultimately draw a penalty.
“It’s almost like a storybook now. I can see there’s a scrum that will reset and reset again, then the advantage will come, then the next chapter is the penalty,” he said.
Following the Sharks’ 19-9 semifinal win over Westen Province, Sharks CEO released a list of tweets ‘aiming to add some context’ to the debate.
Coetzee admitted that ‘most of the games were sub-standard’ however the CEO is hopeful ‘the quality will return’
The Sharks travel to Loftus Versfeld to face the Bulls in the Currie Cup finals scheduled on January 30.
Seen some valid comments around the quality of some CC matches…not trying to justify or defend it, just aiming to add some context. In 13 rounds of rugby since Covid hit…not once did we get to train a full week…the semi final week was first one without Covid absentees…
— Eduard Coetzee (@coetzee_eduard) January 24, 2021
…traveled to matches without coaches available due to Covid…multiple matches had more that 10 players absent for games…our staff and players,like many other people in the world facing death off close friends and immediate family members…
— Eduard Coetzee (@coetzee_eduard) January 24, 2021
So yes…most of the games were sub standard..but I choose to celebrate every coach and player in SA, who during the most testing time we have ever faced in professional rugby,kept our industry alive….
— Eduard Coetzee (@coetzee_eduard) January 24, 2021
I honour and celebrate our sponsors and fans for supporting us when sport was largely irrelevant due to people losing family members and livelihoods. I look forward to the @TheCurrieCup final between @TheSharksZA and @BlueBullsRugby next Saturday…
— Eduard Coetzee (@coetzee_eduard) January 24, 2021
May we use this occasion to honour and remember those who left us during the last 10 months of this terrible pandemic and celebrate the sport we love. The quality will return,our players remains talented…but Covid19 will leave a legacy of hurt! Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika🙏🏻🏆🙏🏻
— Eduard Coetzee (@coetzee_eduard) January 24, 2021
