Ken Borland

Sharks consultant Brendan Venter has supported Gary Gold continuing as the coach of the team for the Currie Cup as well as next year’s Super Rugby competition, saying that if they can’t find anyone suitable then they must rather stick with what is already in place.

The Sharks confirmed at the weekend that Gold will be the head coach for the Currie Cup, with Sean Everitt and Ryan Strudwick as his assistants.

Strudwick, a former Sharks forward, recently steered the University of KwaZulu-Natal to the Varsity Shield title and replaces Brad Macleod-Henderson, who resigned two weeks ago.

“We had approached and considered a replacement for Brad, but we have, after consultation with all stakeholders including the team, decided that it will be in the best interest of the side and for continuity for me to oversee the campaign with the assistance of Sean and Ryan,” Gold said in a statement released by the Sharks.

“The Sharks need security and longevity in their coaching structure and they can’t afford to get the coach wrong this time. So if Gary has to coach Currie Cup as well, then so be it, if there’s no-one else suitable,” Venter said.

The 1995 World Cup winner said it was even more important that the Sharks get their structures right.

“The Sharks need to create a more sustainable long-term structure. They need to develop their own young players and not depend on signing everyone in the Free State every second year. They need to develop that pipeline from the U19s to the academy, through to the U21s and then Vodacom Cup.

“Gary needs to do that and every day that is delayed is a setback. I will be there as a consultant, working with John Smit and Gary, giving advice and creating a debate,” Venter said.

Changing coaches at the Sharks has become something that is not even triennial these days but a regular occurrence that has seen three different men in charge over the last three years, which is why chief executive John Smit is adamant that Gary Gold is going nowhere and will continue to coach the team in next year’s SuperRugby competition.

After John Plumtree was let go in 2013, Brendan Venter filled in alongside Brad Macleod-Henderson and Sean Everitt for the rest of that year, before Jake White was appointed for 2014. It was a high-profile signing, but it didn’t last the year amid talk of a player rebellion against the former Springbok coach.

“We were thrown a curve-ball with Jake and his exit last October was like a bride being left at the altar. It was uncontrollable and it’s inconsequential who wanted who to leave. We wanted Gary Gold to fulfil the same role as Jake, but he couldn’t get out of his contract and arrived late, with Brenden running the show until then.

“But there’s just been too much change in terms of coaching, so Gary has to continue. I know there’s been media speculation about him no longer coaching, but that’s only for the Currie Cup. Gary will continue to be heavily involved with the Super Rugby squad and will coach them. The other six months of the year, he’ll be involved in planning and procurement and improving the academy. We are busy finalising a coach to replace Brad Macleod-Henderson for the Currie Cup,” Smit told The Citizen.

While Smit wants a more settled atmosphere in terms of the coaching structure, he says the academy and the pipeline delivering talent to the Sharks team needs to be shaken up.

“In terms of the academy, every other union copied us, but it’s without doubt not performing the way we want it too. It’s a work in progress, we need to tweak it, because that’s the only way we’re going to be leaders. There are 200 students at the academy at any one time and the majority pay for that. They think they have what it takes and they share the fields and the gym with the professional squad.

“We pay the fees for those we decide are worth backing, those we’ve identified with talent. The academy also gives us an unbelievably strong club structure because the players are billeted out to the Premier League clubs and some of those guys will graduate into being part of the Currie Cup now,” Smit said.

The former Springbok captain said he was at peace over the recruitment of players even though the Sharks have been severely criticised for signing veterans such as Matt Stevens and Mouritz Botha.

“The criticism is probably well-founded based on the performance, but I played with Matt, he was contracted while he was on a British and Irish Lions tour, which means he was rated amongst the top three tightheads in the UK. But that form didn’t transfer here and he was particularly poor at scrum time, although his work-rate was still far superior to any of the other number threes. But European champions Toulon are still willing to pay him double what we are paying him!

“Mouritz has come in for unnecessary criticism because there are not many hardened number four locks around and he hasn’t performed that badly. The public perception may be very different, but then television influences that a lot.

“I can’t control that, but the ‘jobs-for-mates’ thing people are so fond of writing about is nonsense. I don’t pick players on my own, it’s decided by a procurement committee, Smit said.

Bulls captain Pierre Spies says the players are looking forward to breaking out of their shells a bit in next year’s SuperRugby competition after coach Frans Ludeke indicated this week that a new game plan would revolve around scoring more tries.

“We want to create a more attacking mindset. In many ways the players felt restricted last season, they felt bound to the plan on the table, which never should have been the case, that wasn’t the intention. We want to create an environment for the guys to go out and play and enjoy their rugby,” Spies said at the launch of the Bulls’ new Puma jerseys.

For the Bulls to play more expansively, their conditioning will obviously have to improve and Spies said that was a current focus of the team, who have already started their pre-season training.

“We’re stretching ourselves physically at the moment because this is a vital stage of our preparations, we need to build a fitness base. SuperRugby will be played straight through next year because of the World Cup, there won’t be a break, so we don’t want to be carrying any extra weight that will slow our game down. We want to put some speed on the ball, we want to play a lot more of a running game so we need a lot more running metres on the legs,” Spies said.

The current injury status of the eighthman, who has suffered a wretched last two years in terms of being unavailable, is also looking good for him to start the competition.

“The plan is that I will be available for the first game, but I’m not going to rush things, I don’t want to get re-injured. I’ve started the pre-season training although I do sit out some sessions. I don’t want to do anything to rush the arm, I’ll make sure I’m fully fit,” Spies said.

The question of player management is obviously a crucial one in a World Cup year and Spies, as a Springbok hopeful, acknowledged the difficulties.

“They always speak about player management but then you end up playing every game! But it is a World Cup year, so it doesn’t help sparing yourself. Plus it will take me a few weeks to find my feet again, to get used to the intensity of SuperRugby again.”

Spies is confident that the Bulls squad now has great depth and the inexperienced players who were thrown into the deep end this year now have the belief to perform, especially away from home, which has been their downfall in the past.

“It was a tough year, with a new squad and so many of the games were close. A lot of guys had their first taste of SuperRugby, the pace, conditions and intensity of the competition, and they’ll be much better for that. We have some great youngsters from the U21s who will add depth and hopefully get a run. But we have a good core of seniors and you need that experience to bring calm.

“The internal competition for places raises the standard of training and Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss and Lappies Labuschagne are all brilliant signings that will have a massive impact,” Spies said.

The Bulls will bring a top-class pack, a backline studded with great young talent and a burning desire to score more tries into next year’s SuperRugby competition, according to coach Frans Ludeke.

A difficult 2013 saw the Bulls finish in ninth place, one win off the playoffs, while their Currie Cup campaign ended in the semi-finals against eventual champions Western Province.

Ludeke said yesterday that a review of the season had provided a clear indication that the Bulls needed to change their game plan.

“Since 2009, the team that has scored the most tries in the competition has won SuperRugby, so we clearly need to have a new shape to our play, we need to score more tries. Bonus points are also crucial in getting you that home semi-final,” Ludeke told The Citizen.

The exciting Handre Pollard will spearhead that effort from flyhalf and the Bulls have plenty of depth in midfield with Jan Serfontein, JJ Engelbrecht, Burger Odendaal (the find of the Currie Cup) and William Small-Smith, and two experienced wings in Akona Ndungane and Bjorn Basson.

Jesse Kriel is an exciting young talent at fullback, where he will be competing with Ulrich Beyers and Jurgen Visser for the number 15 jersey.

Although the emphasis will be on scoring more tries, Ludeke said they will continue to use their traditional strengths of powerful ball-carrying forwards to lay the platform and the coach can call on an all-Springbok pack in Pierre Spies, Arno Botha, Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield, Flip van der Merwe, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss and Dean Greyling.

SuperRugby places a massive burden on the players, however, so there is a premium on having depth so players can be rotated and the Bulls seem well-placed in this regard with players such as Trevor Nyakane, Bandise Maku, Werner Kruger, Grant Hattingh, Lappies Labuschagne, Jacques du Plessis and Jacques Engelbrecht.

With the ball in play for an average of more than 40 minutes in the last three years of SuperRugby, Ludeke also said he will be focusing on improving the players’ conditioning and skills to deal with the faster-paced game.

The Bulls have come through a difficult period in which they have lost 50 players in five years, but Ludeke believes the new crop of players have begun to settle. They have tremendous potential at Loftus Versfeld and the Bulls have shown glimpses of that in being unbeaten at home in the 2013 SuperRugby competition.

“We have been competitive, but we haven’t been consistent. We won everything at home, but we lost all our away matches,” Ludeke said. “We made too many crucial errors at crucial times. We would dominate possession and play in the right areas, but make a mistake and the opposition would score from 70 metres out.”

To be fair to Ludeke, 2013 was a year in which he had to rebuild the team once again and several inexperienced players were tossed into the furnace. To expect total consistency and error-free rugby from such players is unrealistic in a tournament as demanding as SuperRugby.

But with a more settled squad and a year’s more experience, Ludeke is looking forward to better execution from his players next year.

SuperRugby training squad

Backs:  Jesse Kriel, Duncan Matthews, Warrick Gelant, Jurgen Visser, Akona Ndungane, Travis Ismaiel, Bjorn Basson, Jamba Ulengo, JJ Engelbrecht, William Small-Smith, Dries Swanepoel, Jan Serfontein, Ulrich Beyers, Dan Kriel, Burger Odendaal, Handre Pollard, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Tian Schoeman, Kobus Marais, Francois Hougaard, Piet van Zyl, Rudy Paige, Ivan van Zyl, Carlo Engelbrecht.

Forwards:  Pierre Spies, Hanro Liebenberg, Arno Botha, Jacques du Plessis, Nardus van der Walt, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Jacques Engelbrecht, Deon Stegmann, Lappies Labuschagne, Roelof Smit, Victor Matfield, Grant Hattingh, Marvin Orie, RG Snyman, Flip van der Merwe, Irne Herbst, Jason Jenkins, Werner Kruger, Marcel van der Merwe, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Hencus van Wyk, Basil Short, Adriaan Strauss, Bandise Maku, Callie Visagie, Jaco Visagie, Arno van Wyk, Dean Greyling, Morne Mellett, Trevor Nyakane, Pierre Schoeman.