Sharks ready to fire their big guns in Europe
Sharks coach JP Pietersen will soon have to make some tough selection choices, as his team deals with balancing the run-in to United Rugby Championship play-offs and the European knock-out stages.
It is a situation that is not unique to the Durban-based franchise, but it is the first time Pietersen will face that conundrum since he was appointed as head coach on a full-time basis.
He was the caretaker coach since December, but now has the added pressure of delivering on the demands of his bosses.
Pietersen said the coach always gets judged on the number of victories in the ‘W’ column.
“We want to bring some pride back to Durban,” the recently appointed coach said.
However, heading into April, Pietersen faces a real selection conundrum.
They have two URC matches at home – against Munster on Saturday and Cardiff next Friday, March 27 – before a month-long European tour follows.
They travel to the Sportsground in Galway for a Challenge Cup face-off with Connacht, while the weekend of April 10 to 12 has been set aside for Euro quarterfinals.
Then it’s a return to the URC and away games against Ospreys and Edinburgh.
* (LISTEN as Sharks coach JP Pietersen explains how he is going to solve a serious selection conundrum in the next six weeks…..)
“We have a lot of injuries at the moment,” the coach said.
“It is a challenge to look ahead to the Connacht game,” Pietersen said, adding: “We have two important [URC] games and we will reassess after these two games [against Munster and Cardiff].
The coach said that they will have a ‘full crack’ at Connacht, as they chase some more Euro silverware.
“We are not going to send a weak side or youngsters there [to Galway].
“We will see who is available and give it a full crack against Connacht.”
It is likely South Africa’s most capped player, lock Eben Etzebeth, will feature, as his ban expires on April 1.
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