Ken Borland

On paper, the Sharks have already played most of their ‘easier’ games and assistant coach Sean Everitt is hoping the challenge of taking on the big guns in the competition will cause them to lift their game.

The Sharks have played the Pumas twice, both sides winning their home game, and have scraped home twice against the Eastern Province Kings, while probably their best performance in terms of quality came in the loss against the Golden Lions at home, where they were on top for three-quarters of the match.

The KwaZulu-Natalians are currently fourth on the log, two points ahead of the Free State Cheetahs, but they have a tough run-in to the semi-finals starting with their match against Western Province this Saturday in Durban. They then travel to Johannesburg to take on the Lions, host the Blue Bulls and then end the round-robin phase with visits to Kimberley and Bloemfontein.

“The players are working hard and are frustrated that they just can’t get that consistency. If we concentrate then we can put things together, but we have got to cut out those errors we saw again last weekend against the Pumas. The competition is pretty much in two parts for us, the first part is done where there were a couple of banana peels, and now we’re looking forward to the challenge against the top teams.

“Western Province also have a young side so there’s no hiding behind inexperience for us, and the Lions and Bulls are also waiting for us. Hopefully it brings out the best in us. I think we’ll hit our straps this weekend, teams like Western Province bring out the best in us. We’re two points behind them on the log, so a win will elevate us to third,” Everitt said.

There has obviously been some improvement in the Sharks team since that opening loss to the Pumas in Nelspruit, particularly in the defensive work of the side, and the spirit of the team is good given how they came back to win last weekend in Durban.

“Some people might think that there are few positives, but the defence has got better and the guys showed a lot of character to come back from going down again against the Pumas. That certainly wasn’t planned but there’s a lot of fight in the side and we’ll take that as a positive,” Everitt said.

The likelihood of changes to the team for this weekend is high, however, with Everitt saying “there are certainly things that are not working for us”.

Chief among those is the attacking fluidity of the backline and flyhalf Lionel Cronje’s place is probably top of the list of selection issues to be discussed. The Sharks lineout, despite the superb direction of Marco Wentzel, also seems to stumble at key moments and a change at hooker may also be considered.

Sharks assistant coach Ryan Strudwick thinks there may have been some underestimation of the Pumas by some of the inexperienced members of their squad, leading to their chastening 33-24 defeat in Nelspruit in their Currie Cup opener last weekend.

“We spoke all week about them taking it to us physically, but I don’t think the guys expected it to be that hard. They underestimated the Pumas, there were eight guys in our side who were new to Currie Cup rugby, and I think they were shellshocked to some extent.

“Nelspruit is not an easy place to go and the intensity of a match situation is a lot different to whatever you’ve had in the warm-ups,” Strudwick said.

The former Sharks, Harlequins and London Irish lock said the major problem area for the Sharks was the set-pieces, while the biggest plus was the second-half comeback that saw the KwaZulu-Natalians close a 7-27 gap at the break to just nine points.

“It was a very disappointing start to the campaign, both in terms of the result and the way we played. They outmuscled us and we made way too many mistakes. But we won the second half so there are a lot of positives from that, that got the confidence up a bit. The defence let through three tries though and the lineouts and scrums were massive problem areas,” Strudwick admitted.

Flank Khaya Majola and wing S’Bura Sithole are both on the doubtful list with niggles for the Sharks’ match against the EP Kings in Durban on Saturday, with the team set to be announced on Thursday.

The shoulder and ankle injuries suffered by Lourens Adriaanse and Thomas du Toit respectively have seen the Sharks issue an SOS for Leopards prop John-Roy Jenkinson, a Glenwood High School product and 2011 Junior Springbok, to join them for the remainder of the Currie Cup campaign, while the loose trio could also be shuffled with Jean-Luc du Preez having a leg injury.

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The harshest lesson the Bulls learnt on the tough three-week tour of Australia was that the much-improved intensity and tempo of the game plan still needs to go up to the next level if they are going to reach the playoffs of the SuperRugby competition, assistant coach David Manuel said on Tuesday.

The outcome of the Africa Conference 1 could well be decided by the crunch match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday between the Bulls and the Stormers, and Manuel reckons the home side will have the advantage of experiencing the next step up, while the Capetonians only go overseas after the June break.

“The one thing that stood out was the intensity of the Brumbies and Waratahs which we had never experienced before, they bring a different intensity to the contact areas and in terms of line-speed, and we struggled to adjust. We were under immense pressure, but it was a very good experience.

“We were maybe spoilt in the beginning stages of the competition, we had a favourable draw and the opportunity to play the way we wanted. But Australia was a different challenge and now we know exactly what to expect from the top sides,” backs coach Manuel said at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday.

Apart from trying to increase the tempo of their play even more, Manuel said ball-retention was also the biggest area they need to improve on ahead of the Stormers game.

“The biggest focus point has been respecting the ball more. We created opportunities but then we would release the pressure by forcing a pass or trying something magical. Clearing the ball quicker from the rucks is definitely an area we can improve on too, but for that to happen you need to have good shape, you need guys on their feet otherwise there’s nothing on.

“These are growing pains, but we learnt from our mistakes in the first game against the Stormers that it’s always going to be a set-piece battle. If you don’t have a platform there then the backs will struggle. The result will also go on the advantage line, who gets on the front foot there,” Manuel said.

The 15th week of 2016 could potentially be a seismic one in the history of Black African rugby in this country with Jonathan Mokuena leading Pukke to the Varsity Cup title and Mzwandile Stick being named a Springbok assistant coach.

While both former Springbok Sevens stars have quickly risen to coaching prominence, it is Mokuena who is perhaps accelerating even faster than former flyer Stick.

The 34-year-old Mokuena claimed the highly-competitive Varsity Cup title in his first year as a 15s coach and will now be guiding the Leopards in the Currie Cup as the doors slowly open for Black Africans at senior coaching level.

Speed and intensity will always be vital in rugby and, as a former Springbok Sevens captain, Mokuena’s coaching focuses on that.

“Coming from Sevens has been kind of an advantage because there’s a certain work ethic in Sevens. Coming to 15s, I try to train and operate at that same level, to introduce the same mental attitude. We train at a greater intensity and pace and under more pressure. In Sevens, because there are less guys on the field, one missed tackle can mean you lose the game,” Mokuena told The Saturday Citizen.

Mokuena was born in Cape Town in 1981 and received a bursary while at Prince George Primary to attend Voortrekker High School, an Afrikaans school.

“There was no soccer or volleyball, which I had been playing, at Voortrekker, I had to play cricket and rugby. It was just post-1994, so it was a bit uncomfortable, but I think having that challenge has allowed me to fit in well in small towns. I played my best rugby in Potchefstroom and Kimberley,” Mokuena said.

Having made his provincial debut for Western Province in 2002, Mokuena, a tough loose forward, relocated to Potchefstroom in 2004, playing 55 matches for the Leopards. From there he had stints with the Cheetahs and Griffons in the Free State, before joining Griquas, who he captained to the Vodacom Cup title in 2009, being named the player of the tournament.

He then joined the Lions, in the years before they were the slick, settled and reasonably happy outfit they are now.

“In my two years at the Lions, the coaching staff changed four times – from Jake White to Dick Muir to John Mitchell and then Johan Ackermann. So it was never consistent, which you need to fit in as a player. But I wanted to play SuperRugby. I wasn’t helped by a knee injury and then I missed a tour when my first child was born,” Mokuena recalls.

Before taking up coaching, Mokuena spent three years in the corporate world and, coupled with some bad experiences of how coaching should not be done at the Lions, it has helped shape his own coaching philosophy.

“You see what works in the corporate world and there are a lot of similarities with sport. You learn how to work better with people and how to manage people. Not everyone dances to the same music, you have got to discover what works in your set-up and figure out what sort of people your players are.

“A coach will impact more young people in a year than most people do in a lifetime, so it’s about those person-to-person relationships and creating an environment to grow people, a family environment,” Mokuena said.

The married father of three, who says his biggest playing highlight was winning the man of the match award for the Royal XV against the British and Irish Lions in 2009, says the future goal is the Springboks, but the now is his focus.

“The ultimate goal is to be Springbok coach, but at the moment I’m just focusing on getting the structures right for the Leopards, the Currie Cup is my immediate goal. The Varsity Cup has gone, we’ve ticked that box, and the Currie Cup is next, I want everyone to see we are going about things the right way here.

“The Black coaches have always been there, it’s just about opportunity. It’s slowly opening up but we don’t want to be appointed because of our colour,” Mokuena said.

The stately Varsity Cup trophy sitting in his office in Potchefstroom proves the waves Mokuena is making have nothing to do with window-dressing.

http://www.citizen.co.za/1077177/mokuena-making-waves/