Ken Borland

Sharks coach Sean Everitt admitted that his team still has plenty of work to do on their efforts in the tight-loose, despite their comfortable winning margin of 42-19 over the Pumas in Nelspruit at the weekend.

The Pumas were typically robust and confrontational up front, but where the Sharks had a decided edge was in terms of their clinical finishing, and the sharpness of both their backline and the rolling maul. But were it not for the Pumas being extremely wasteful on several occasions when they were inside the Sharks’ 22, the match would have been a lot closer.

“We’re very happy with the result, especially since last year we lost here, and we showed a lot of energy for the full 80 minutes, but the breakdowns let us down and that still needs a lot of attention. Francois Klelinhans and Jeandre Rudolph are both very good on the ball, but we need to tidy that area up,” Everitt said.

Not that the Sharks coach was upset with his forwards though, because there were areas where they played much better than last weekend against the Bulls in Pretoria, and the Sharks were expert at mining that front-foot ball and turning it into gold.

“There were obviously things we worked on after the Bulls game and it was great to see the set-piece come through – we were rewarded for some good scrums and we didn’t lose a lineout. Plus our maul was really good and led to two tries for us,” Everitt said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt on Thursday brought five new starters into the conversation – and two more on the bench – for their SuperRugby Unlocked match against the Pumas in Nelspruit.

Three of the changes were forced by injury, with openside flank James Venter (ankle), tighthead prop Thomas du Toit (calf) and eighthman Sikhumbuzo Notshe (slight hamstring strain) all not available this weekend.

The new faces

Dan Jooste – Everitt has been talking all season about hooker Dylan Richardson adapting to his new position in the front row, but now the 21-year-old former junior international gets the chance to show how interchangeable he is with openside flank as he replaces James Venter in the No.6 jersey.

Jooste is a Paarl Boys’ High product and former Stormers representative who is of similar physical dimensions to Richardson and, according to Everitt, “needs game time after coming off the bench on SuperFan day and against the Lions following a considerable length of time out with a shoulder injury”.

John-Hubert Meyer – The absence of World Cup winner Du Toit will leave the Sharks a bit bereft of leadership and grunt up front, but the Sharks have managed to locate an experienced replacement in Meyer, also born and educated in the Western Cape. The 27-year-old is a seasoned scrummager and knows his way around the gainline.

JJ van der Mescht – The Sharks second row has not been particularly good at either dominating the lineouts or making their presence felt in the collisions, and Everitt has made a change to try and generate more momentum from the tight five. Van der Mescht replaces Ruben van Heerden in the starting line-up, and while both Pretoria products are two metres tall, the 21-year-old Van der Mescht weighs 130kg (14kg more) and is a big force with ball in hand.

Henco Venter – Everitt has been at pains to point out how well his loose trio have actually been playing, but in private he must be concerned over how they have been bullied twice by the Bulls. Former Free Stater Henco Venter, at 1.93 metres and 107kg, will add a harder edge in the loose.

Madosh Tambwe – The exciting speed merchant has been nursing a hamstring strain since the start of the season, but Tambwe is now ready to go and Everitt is eager to give him game time despite the energy brought to the back three by Werner Kok.

Michael Kumbirai – According to Everitt, tighthead prop Kumbirai has worked really hard since his arrival from Western Province and there is excitement at Kings Park over getting him in the mix. “Michael is so keen to get on the field and add value, he’s got the ability to shine and hopefully he takes this opportunity. He’s a physical specimen, well-built and athletic,” Everitt said.

Thembelani Bholi – Bholi has recently moved to Durban from the Bulls, having first made his name with the Southern Kings. A loose forward with a hard edge, Bholi is well-versed at making a physical statement at the gain-line, having spent much of his career at Loftus Versfeld. He is also growing his skills and is able to turn out at eighthman as well.

Sharks team: Manie Libbok, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Marius Louw, Madosh Tambwe, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Phendulani Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, JJ van der Mescht, John-Hubert Meyer, Dan Jooste, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Mzamo Majola, Michael Kumbirai, Ruben van Heerden, Thembelani Bholi, Grant Williams, Jeremy Ward, Yaw Penxe.

Bulls scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl has warned that their brilliant victory over the Sharks is worth nothing unless they build on it and maintain that momentum in their huge games coming up against the Stormers in Pretoria on Saturday and versus the Lions at Ellis Park the following weekend.

Top spot on the log is their’s at the moment, but the Bulls will need to keep winning to hold off the thus far unbeaten Free State Cheetahs and Stormers, who have won both their matches, because Jake White’s team then have a bye.

“As a team we took a lot of confidence from the Sharks game and that performance couldn’t have come at a better time. Before that we had been a bit stop-start, we didn’t have much flow in our first two games. Every game is important but now it’s really important that we build on that display and move forward, otherwise that win won’t help us.

“We have a couple of massive games coming up, but at least we were more clinical at the right times, there was better decision-making and we identified space better. Better decisions lead to better play, and this time we rounded off our chances. Coach Jake is very good at making sure that it is all about getting the team to win and we all understand our roles every week,” Van Zyl said.

While the Bulls were much more accurate with ball in hand, and also off the boot, their defence was also highly impressive against the Sharks as they conceded just one try.

“We’re very happy with our defence and the combination of scoring six tries and just conceding one is massive for us. The more consistent we are in our defence, the more opportunities we’ll have to win, so it’s something we continue to work on and against the Stormers we’ll come up against different players with different skill-sets. But we take a lot of confidence from the defensive effort against the Sharks.

“Joey Mongalo has been great for us as defence coach, he has great energy and clearly loves what he does, he’s passionate about defence and that rubs off on the team. We are eager to get better every week. The basics of our defensive system haven’t changed that much, but there’s a new energy,” Van Zyl said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt said he felt his team was still in good health at halftime as they only trailed the Bulls 9-17 in their Super Rugby Unlocked match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, but the unrelenting physical bombardment of the home side eventually saw them subside to a 41-14 hammering.

The Sharks had actually had the better of the exchanges in the first half and they led until the 28^th minute when the Bulls scored the first of two quickfire tries before the break. Thereafter it was one-way traffic.

“There are no excuses, we started really well, but then we leaked two soft tries. But we still felt very much in the game at halftime, but the Bulls have a very good pack, big and physical, and they just wore us down in the second half. We had a dominant scrum until Thomas du Toit went off because of his calf, and we had a lot of go-forward in the first half.

“I like to think we also matched them in the loose in certain periods, but it was just our execution that let us down. The breakdown was going well when we had forward dominance in our carries, but I think the Bulls just outmuscled us a bit in the end and Marco van Staden is a great fetcher and not a Springbok for nothing. We were also not accurate enough in our kicking game,” Everitt said after the match.

Hooker Dylan Richardson was the outstanding player for the Sharks and scored a beauty of a try, after a lovely little dart by eighthman Sikhumbuzo Notshe, to keep the Sharks in the game at 14-24 down after 53 minutes. But the rest of the second half belonged to the Bulls as they scored three more tries. The lineouts were a particular area of concern for the Sharks as the Bulls stole a few balls against Richardson’s throw.

“Dylan’s general play was outstanding, he made lots of tackles and won three turnovers for us. It was a big step for him to move from openside flank in Super Rugby, but we feel hooker is a position he can excel in and his throwing is just a teething problem, that will get better with game time,” Everitt said.