'Fierce' competition for places at Sharks
REACTION: Sharks head coach Sean Everitt praised the youngsters in his squad after a 35-10 win over Griquas in Durban on Saturday.
A few of the Sharks’ big names were not involved in the Kings Park fixture and it allowed Everitt to test his depth in certain positions.
And the coach was pleased with what he saw.
“I am very happy for the youngsters. They only had two full days of preparation and I thought the intent was there.
“They wanted to play with ball in hand and the weather allowed it. That was the route we wanted to go.
“At the end of the day I think we did turn over a lot of balls and maybe better teams would have punished us.
“I’m just very happy with the positivity shown and the energy on the field after being on a three-week break.”
#REACTION: EP Elephants coach Peter de Villiers revealed some bad news after his team was crushed by the Bulls 👇https://t.co/exMqOYHtzr
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) March 1, 2021
With the youngsters catching Everitt’s eye and with the senior players being introduced later in the preparation series, there could be some interesting selections coming up.
“We know that if a team stays together for a period of time they will only get better.
“They [youngsters] would have liked more opportunities in the Currie Cup and they are getting it now and we can see why they are energised on the field,” Everitt added.
“At the same time, they are now fighting for positions for the latter part of this preparation series. So, competition is going to be fierce when we start selecting our better team at the end.”
After Sunday’s game, Everitt mentioned some of the players that stood out.
“Ntuthuko Mchunu is a convert [from the back row] and it’s his first senior game at prop. He came on and won us a scrum penalty and I thought he was outstanding in the energy that he displayed.
“There were also some good performances from Murray Koster, who made his debut and young Thaakir Abrahams who came on and scored a nice try.”
#NEWS: Stormers suffer injury blow 👇https://t.co/OCfrlRlVcH
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) March 1, 2021
