Ken Borland

Director of rugby Neil Powell is not usually a results-focused coach, but as the Sharks swop URC action this week for the Champions Cup, he admitted some relief that his embattled team had beaten the Ospreys, however ugly the performance.

The Sharks beat a depleted Ospreys side 25-10 last weekend, but that winning margin was bumped up by them scoring 14 points in the last three minutes. For those expecting a magic wand to suddenly put everything right after the departure of former coach Sean Everitt, it was a reality check.

“For me, it’s never just about the result, it’s about the effort, how the players execute their individual roles and responsibilities. But maybe this one was just about the result,” Powell said after the error-filled win.

“It was a much-needed result and it gives us a bit of a breather. It was not an easy week and the game was also not easy, plus it was such a short week playing on Sunday and then Friday.

“We can definitely step up on our execution, we will look at the things that can be a lot better. It was a stop-start game, we made too many mistakes.

“But we had good dominance, especially in the scrums and in the collisions, where our defence was really good. It’s a pity to be so on top and not get more rewards,” Powell said.

The former Springbok Sevens coach put the high error-rate down to a lack of confidence, but he is hopeful that the way the Sharks dug their way out of a pit of trouble will banish some of the self-doubt ahead of their debut Champions Cup clash with top English side Harlequins at Kings Park on Saturday.

“The basic errors are maybe because the players are looking for confidence, confidence has a lot to do with it. Hopefully we can build on the bit of confidence and momentum we got in the last 10 minutes against Ospreys,” Powell said.

“You score one or two tries and you start to get that confidence back, and I think then you’ll be a lot more accurate. There were definitely encouraging things we can build on.

“We made a lot of changes to the team so we did not have the synergy we would have liked, but hopefully we can keep changes to a minimum now for the match against Harlequins.

“The Champions Cup is a difficult competition, almost between the level of the URC and Test rugby, and Quins are a good side playing a good brand of rugby. We definitely need to step up,” Powell said.

Keegan Petersen revealed himself as one of South Africa’s brightest batting talents in the series against India, but the man who made the No.3 position his own has now suffered the disappointment of being ruled out of the tour to New Zealand due to a positive Covid test. This does, however, potentially open the way for an exciting young batsman like Ryan Rickelton to make his long-awaited debut.

Petersen, who is asymptomatic, has been replaced in the squad by Western Province talent Zubayr Hamza.

But Petersen’s misfortune, announced on the morning of the team’s departure for New Zealand, could well be just the break the 25-year-old Rickelton has been waiting for. The Central Gauteng Lions batsman has been part of the Proteas squad since the tour to Pakistan a year ago, but is yet to catch a game.

Rickelton has been in exceptional form in the domestic four-day competition this season, and scores of 90 and a match-saving 102 not out for the Lions against Western Province at Newlands last weekend took his tally this summer to 473 runs in five innings, at an average of 118.25, with three centuries.

But as much as one would like to see a new talent on the international stage, you have to wonder if the Proteas selectors won’t use Petersen’s absence as a lifeline for Aiden Markram.

Markram has scored just 140 runs in his last nine innings, with one half-century, and there was a strong possibility he was going to lose his opening spot in New Zealand to the uncapped Sarel Erwee, who is averaging 86 in four-day cricket this season.

But both Markram and Erwee could conceivably fill Petersen’s No.3 spot. Rickelton is also a top-order batsman, comfortable in the top three, but choosing two uncapped batsmen in Erwee and Rickelton could be too much of a risk for the selectors, so it will be interesting to see which option they choose.

The Sharks’ Currie Cup stars have enjoyed a five-week break in the sun and fun of Durban, but now is the time for them to start filtering back into action, with coach Sean Everitt on Thursday naming 13 of the squad that played in the final in the line-up for Saturday’s preparation series match against the Lions in Johannesburg. New arrival Siya Kolisi is still conspicuous by his absence, however.

Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Lukhanyo Am, Dylan Richardson, Thomas du Toit and Curwin Bosch will all return to action on Saturday, but Springbok captain Kolisi will have to wait a little longer for his first match in the Black and White jersey following his move from the Stormers.

“These matches are about opportunity and game time for the whole 45-man squad and we’ve rotated after two matches because it’s time to make changes now and bring the seniors back. After a five-week break they ae ready to rock-and-roll. We showed we can vary our play in the Currie Cup and now it’s about developing confidence in our style of play.

“Siya is still in his pre-season, he’s just completed his first full week of training. Our defence and attack systems are very different to what he’s used to and it does take time. We’ll give hm a go next week if we feel he understands our systems well enough, but it’s by no means a definite,” Everitt said on Thursday.

A couple of interesting new youngsters will make the trip up to the big city with the Sharks.

Centre Rynhard Jonker, the son of leading referee Marius, is a Glenwood High School product who Everitt said the Sharks have recruited for his utility and creative skills, while replacement lock Emile van Heerden is an U21 star who is the son of former Springbok Fritz.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Lukhanyo Am (C), Rynhard Jonker, Yaw Penxe, Boeta Chamberlain, Sanele Nohamba, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Mpilo Gumede, Henco Venter, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, John-Hubert Meyer, Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola. Bench: Dylan Richardson, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Thomas du Toit, Emile van Heerden, Thembelani Bholi, Grant Williams, Curwin Bosch, Marius Louw.