Why Pat Lambie is a 'winner' for Sharks
REACTION: The applause was so sonorous, you would have thought the Sharks had already won the game.
Instead, it was the appearance of the Sharks’ new ‘kicking consultant’ Patrick Lambie.
Coach Sean Everitt praised the now-retired Springbok star for the role he played in their season-opening 23-15 win over the Bulls in Durban last Friday.
“Pat is a good guy to have,” Everitt said of the 29-year-old Bok – who was forced to retire on medical grounds after a series of horror concussion episodes.
With 56 Tests and over 100 games for the Sharks, his insights are proving to be invaluable to the Durban-based franchise.
“He works hard with the players during the week,” Everitt said ahead of the team’s road-trip – a four-match Australasian tour that will see them face the Highlanders (this coming Friday), Hurricanes (Saturday, February 15), Rebels (Saturday, February 22) and Reds (Saturday, February 29).
“Having Pat there, apart from the kicking, is great.
“He is a good mentor to the young flyhalves,” he said of Lambie’s work with Curwin Bosch, Boeta Chamberlain and Jordan Chait.
“[He is] also spending one on one time with [scrumhalf] Sanele [Nohamba] on his kicking.
“That’s really an integral part of what he is doing.”
Everitt said the Sharks are looking forward to the road trip, in the wake of their impressive first-up win.
“I think the guys will enjoy the conditions over there,” he said of the tour.
“Our first game against the Highlanders we’re playing undercover,” he said of Dunedin’s ‘Lunchbox’ – or its non-commercial official name, the Otago Stadium.
“Those conditions there will be good for us.”
The coach said the Sharks will look for balance on tour.
“There’s going to be times there where we’ll need to kick it, we’ve got to sort that out.
“I think the guys will find it refreshing.
“The first week will be tough, as we’ll only have just one training session.
“However, all the preparations we did in the pre-season will help and the fact that we’ve got no injuries is impressive.”
He said the Sharks need to be more consistent.
“Yes, going overseas for four weeks is tough. This team has got a vibe about it, they’re really keen to take up this challenge.”
* Picture credit: @SeagreenWayne
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