Sharks are South Africa's great pretenders
SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: After seven rounds of competition, the Sharks have once again failed to live up to their potential in Super Rugby.
On paper, the Sharks seem to have one of the stronger squads amongst the South African teams, but that promise has failed to materialise on the rugby field.
The Sharks got their season off to a good start with a 45-10 win over the Sunwolves in Singapore before beating the Blues 26-7 in Durban.
However, consistency remains a big problem for Robert du Preez’s side and that was evident when they went down 11-16 to the Stormers at Kings Park in Round Three and got hammered 14-37 by the Bulls in Pretoria a week later.
After getting a much-needed win against the Rebels in Round Six, the Sharks once again showed what a poor team they are when they got edged 16-19 by the Bulls in a horrible South African derby in Durban last weekend.
Those losses against fellow South African teams is totally unacceptable for a Sharks team boasting several Springboks and young talent in their ranks. It is also worrying that two of their three defeats were at Kings Park.
Another South African team awaits the Sharks in Round Eight this weekend in the form of the Lions.
That match will be in Johannesburg and the Sharks will need to take a long look at themselves if they are to pull off an upset at Ellis Park.
The Sharks surely cannot afford another defeat against a South African Conference rival if they want to make the play-offs this year.
Story continues below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV2TUBCmR1E&t=219s
An inconvenient truth
The players will have to take responsibility for their performances on the field, but the Sharks’ coaching team will have to take most of the blame.
Their tactics in the derby matches have been questionable at times and like the Stormers, they don’t seem to have a plan B when things get tough.
The Sharks might also want to think about changes at flyhalf and scrumhalf moving forward.
Robert du Preez junior has been too predictable at No.10 and he just doesn’t have that commanding presence that a team needs in that position.
The Sharks have one of the most dangerous back threes in the competition, but they are often not given enough quality ball from their inside backs.
Execution has also been a major problem for the Sharks. In fact, most South African teams are struggling with is this aspect of the game.
The Sharks have a good pack of forwards, but their hard work is often undone when the ball gets to the backline – where the decision making has been shocking on occasions.
Dan du Preez and Akker van der Merwe have been the stars of the show for the Sharks this season, while Luke Stringer has been promising.
However, the Sharks cannot rely on individual performances for success. They have a problem playing as a team and that is something the coaches will have to sort out.
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
