VIDEO: Sharks to rely on 'new energy' for Currie Cup
TRANSFER NEWS: New faces, new energy and new squad will drive the Sharks’ Currie Cup campaign, says coach Sean Everitt.
The Sharks, who have been very busy in terms of lucrative deals, will lose a number of star players due to national team commitments ahead of the Currie Cup kick-off.
Siyamthanda Kolisi (flank), Thomas du Toit (prop), Retshegofaditswe Nché (prop), Lukhanyo Am (centre), Makazole Mapimpi (outside back) and Sibusiso Nkosi (outside back) – as well as the uncapped trio Yaw Penxe (outside back), Sanele Nohamba (scrumhalf), Aphelele Fassi (outside back) have all been called up to the Springboks 46-man squad.
The players are currently on a three-week conditioning camp in Bloemfontein – leaving Sean Everitt with a major headache ahead of the Currie Cup opening round of fixtures this week.
The Sharks, who narrowly missed out on a Rainbow Cup Final, after a defeat to Bulls last weekend, open the Currie Cup campaign against Griquas on Saturday.
While the Durban-based outfit is not the only franchise that has to deal with limited resources in terms of player availability, they have been conducting plans to combat this problem.
Speaking during the virtual media briefing after Saturday’s defeat in Durban, Everitt admitted it is a concern.
However, he stated it is a very good omen to the Sharks franchise.
“We are going to be losing nine players to the national side, which is great for those individuals and for the Sharks,” Everitt said.
“When we started coaching this squad, we only had four Springboks. However, due to the team’s success and growth over the last 18 months, we now have nine. That is exciting,”
The coach revealed there will be a couple of new faces in the Currie Cup squad.
One of those new faces is promising University of the Western Cape (UWC) loose forward Tinotenda Mavesere.
The 2021 Varsity Cup star has penned a two-year deal with the KwaZulu-Natal-based Sharks and could be in action this weekend.
We are excited to welcome Tinotenda Mavesere to the Sharks Family 🦈#OurSharksForever pic.twitter.com/Qu3snuQXt6
— The Sharks (@TheSharksZA) June 13, 2021
“Heading into the Currie Cup, we will have a new squad, it will be fresh and obviously there will be guys left over from the Rainbow Cup,” Everitt said.
“There will be some new faces, which is always refreshing and always brings a different type of energy.
“Think the youngsters who are in this group and there will be more of them next week will have to take responsibility for their ill-discipline and cut down on their error rate
“Certainly exciting for us, going into a new challenge with a different group of guys,”
Last season the Sharks came agonisingly close to securing a Currie Cup trophy, however 19-26 defeat the Bulls saw them fall short.
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