Ken Borland

There are four changes to the Cell C Sharks’ starting line-up for their Vodacom SuperRugby match against the Emirates Lions in Durban on Saturday, but director of rugby Gary Gold said he is trying to maintain as much consistency as possible despite their poor start to the season.

The Sharks went down to the Cheetahs in a shock result at King’s Park last weekend, and three of the four changes are injury-enforced.

The odd one out is captain Bismarck du Plessis’ return at hooker, which is a no-brainer after he withdrew shortly before the Cheetahs game with a shoulder problem.

Lubabalo “Giant” Mtyanda will make his SuperRugby debut as he comes in at lock for Mouritz Botha, the English international having fractured a cheekbone last weekend.

He won’t have “Beast” Mtawarira in front of him, however, as the loosehead prop suffered a torn calf against the Cheetahs and has been replaced by Dale Chadwick.

Wing S’bura Sithole twisted his ankle to rule him out of action, with veteran Odwa Ndungane coming in on the right wing.

“It was a very disappointing performance against the Cheetahs but we’re not going to hit the panic button. Making four enforced changes already means nearly 30% of your team has changed and I want to try and keep some consistency in selection,” Gold told The Citizen. “We’re backing the players to get it right this weekend and they’ve trained well.”

Gold also said the time was not quite right to rush loose forward Jean Deysel back into the starting line-up, despite his strong showing off the bench in the opening game.

“He’s very close, but getting back from Japan not that long ago, we just want to give him a slow entry back into SuperRugby and not throw him into the deep end. Another 30-35 minutes off the bench this weekend will be good for him,” Gold said.

The other places on the bench opened up by the injuries go to loosehead prop Thomas du Toit and powerful young centre Andre Esterhuizen.

Mtyanda, who moved to Durban from the Pumas last year, has leapfrogged the experienced Marco Wentzel, who is seen more as a number five lock and will continue to provide cover on the bench. Pieter-Steph du Toit is able to play in either second-row position.

Gold said Ryan Kankowski is back from Japan and in training with the Sharks, while Frans Steyn and JP Pietersen are going to be playing in a semi-final this weekend, with Sharks fans obviously hoping they lose so they can return as soon as possible to SuperRugby action.

Team: 15-SP Marais, 14-Odwa Ndungane, 13-Waylon Murray, 12-Heimar Williams, 11-Lwazi Mvovo, 10-Pat Lambie, 9-Cobus Reinach, 8-Tera Mtembu, 7-Renaldo Bothma, 6-Marcell Coetzee, 5-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4-Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Bismarck du Plessis (capt), 1-Dale Chadwick. Replacements – 16-Kyle Cooper, 17-Thomas du Toit, 18-Matt Stevens, 19-Marco Wentzel, 20-Jean Deysel, 21-Conrad Hoffmann, 22-Fred Zeilinga, 23-Andre Esterhuizen.

Jean Deysel’s wife Cindy must feel like a bit of a rugby widow because no sooner has the powerhouse loose forward wrapped up a season with Japanese club Toyota Verblitz than he signed a fresh contract to join the Cell C Sharks for SuperRugby.

Deysel of course made his name for the Sharks with his strong ball-carrying abilities and sheer physicality, earning four Springbok caps between 2009 and 2011, but the Natalians’ new coach, Gary Gold, secured his signature afresh once his availability became known.

“I’m very happy to be back; when Gary spoke to me about three weeks ago it was an easy decision to make. It’s always good coming back to Durban, to see the players again and it’s a great union to play for. So it was an easy decision once Gary offered me the opportunity,” Deysel said this week at King’s Park.

“When I initially signed the contract with Toyota Verblitz, I didn’t think I’d be coming back, it was a late decision for me. It wasn’t on the cards not that long ago, so it feels great to be here now.”

While Deysel’s participation in last weekend’s SuperRugby opener against the Cheetahs was limited to a second-half appearance off the bench, his body certainly felt the difference between the less-physical Japanese leagues and the toughest competition in world rugby.

“I played just 30 minutes on Saturday, and I battled to get out of the car on Sunday, whereas when I played in Japan, Sundays were good. SuperRugby is a lot more physical, you do miss that and the heavy competitiveness of it. And it actually feels good to get up on a Sunday and really feel like it was a tough game the day before,” one of the Sharks’ ultimate hard men said.

Deysel said Gold’s new ball-in-hand approach for the Sharks suits his style of play as he just loves carrying the “pill” as often as he can.

“Gary has been great; the way he speaks and thinks about the game is phenomenal. He puts so much preparation into the game you almost feel like you have to do your part just to catch up. He has been very influential not just for me, but for the whole team.”

“The way Gary structures the game, it’s about sharing the ball-carrying load, but for me, being involved on Saturday, it was just good to be back and I just wanted to have the ball in my hands. But you still have to stay in the structures that have been set out, but it’s about sharing the work-load,” Deysel said.

Even though Deysel is no rookie, having earned 67 SuperRugby caps previously for the Sharks as well as playing 92 Currie Cup matches for the Lions and the Natalians, his return to action in the southern hemisphere was quite a moment for the 29-year-old.

“I can’t remember when I’ve been that nervous before a game. Maybe eight years ago when I played my first match, but I think I was even more nervous this time around. I must take my hat off to the guys and the coaching staff, they made it so much easier to fit in and get into the game-plan. Everyone had a massive impact during the week, so it was much easier for me to fit back in because everyone helped so much,” Deysel said.

And after their upset loss to the Cheetahs, there is no way the Sharks are going to underestimate the Lions this weekend.

“The Lions have a very good loose-trio and they’ve been playing together for a while now. They link together well and do the job that the coaches want them to do. So we will need to match them, not just physically but skills-wise as well. We’ll prepare well and hopefully get one over them this Saturday,” Deysel said.

And what did the man who grew up in the Free State gold mining town of Virginia miss the most while he was in Japan?

“There were no braais! I missed that the most to be honest. Being in Japan was a great experience and a real learning curve. Toyota is a great club and they are so eager to learn and develop their rugby, not just in general but as a culture. For me to go there and see that was awesome, but this is home and it’s where all my friends and family are. There were a lot of things I missed and it’s really good to be back,” Deysel said.

http://citizen.co.za/329218/im-happy-back-gary-gold/

Cell C Sharks coach Gary Gold said on Sunday that there was no need to panic after his team succumbed to a shock 35-29 home loss to the Toyota Cheetahs in their Vodacom SuperRugby opener at Kings Park.

It was an uncharacteristically error-ridden performance from the Sharks and the Cheetahs are the last team that will stand back and allow mistakes to go unpunished, running in four tries to claim the bonus point and put themselves second on the overall log and on top of the South African Conference.

“People have got to learn the lesson that you can’t underestimate the Cheetahs, the type of team they are, tightly-knit and able to punish any errors. So we knew what the Cheetahs were about, but we made far too many errors and we had set-piece problems.

“It was just one of those days and it depends on how you deal with it. It’s no good panicking about it, we need to feel the pain and fix what went wrong on the night. And we know what to fix, starting with the set-piece,” Gold told The Citizen on Sunday.

The new Sharks coach was, however, pleased with the character his side showed in the second half in trying to overcome a 35-22 deficit.

“We showed great character in the second half to come back and if Marcell Coetzee’s try had been allowed we would have won. That doesn’t take away from a poor performance, but the fact is that we still had an opportunity to win the game despite playing so poorly,” Gold said.

Hooker and captain Bismarck du Plessis was a late withdrawal through injury and then loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira limped off with what looks to be a serious calf tear shortly before halftime to disrupt the Sharks pack, but Gold said they needed to adapt better to the misfortune.

The Sharks were their own worst enemies, which was no better illustrated than in the 27^th minute after Pat Lambie had just scored to put the home side’s noses in front 13-10. From the kickoff, the ball went to hooker Kyle Cooper and he contrived to kick waywardly, even though fullback SP Marais was all lined up to clear with his left foot, the ball going straight to eighthman Willie Britz, who counter-attacked to set up a try for centre Francois Venter. The Sharks were never ahead again.

Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske praised experienced flyhalf and new signing Joe Pietersen and the defence for taking the underdogs to victory.

“We knew if we wanted to beat them we had to have a good kicking plan and Joe made a real difference for us. He’s really calm and brings a lot of experience. I thought tactically he and Willie le Roux really kicked well and really put them under pressure, especially in the first half.

“The big difference between us tonight and last year was the work-rate on defence. I think the intensity is something we’ve worked on and that made a big difference. The second half we lost some momentum, but the defence pulled us through,” Drotske said.

A dangerous Toyota Cheetahs side are standing in the way of the Cell C Sharks starting their new era on a winning note when the two neighbouring franchises start their Vodacom SuperRugby campaigns at Kings Park on Saturday.

New Sharks coach Gary Gold has been preaching pragmatism ahead of the match, particularly since the Cheetahs are highly adept at punishing mistakes and he doesn’t want his players getting ahead of themselves in their efforts to play more entertaining rugby.

“The danger comes with those expectations and I don’t want the players believing that it will be easy, especially since the Cheetahs have been a bit of a nemesis for the Sharks. The way they play – they’re not conservative – means they are hard to manage.

“If we’re not on top of our game then we’ll get beaten. We need to give them respect and play properly. They’re a good team, with mobile forwards, experienced halfbacks and plenty of danger at the back. They are very capable of punishing mistakes so we need to play with some pragmatism, it’s going to be a really tough game,” Gold warned.

It seems all the talk of playing running rugby and scoring tries will have to be put aside for the time being, the intense humidity at this time of year in Durban making the ball difficult to handle, with the Sharks looking to use their obvious strength in the tight five to lay the platform.

“We need the tight five to step up and get us ascendancy in the set-pieces. That’s critical for us when conditions are going to make it hard to move the ball around,” Gold confirmed to The Citizen on Friday.

The draining effects of the sapping humidity also counts against a free-flowing game, but the Cheetahs are the sort of side that will be waiting to pounce on the slightest of chances to counter-attack.

There is the ball-stealing threat of Coenie Oosthuizen, the sniping runs of Sarel Pretorius and the trickery of Willie le Roux for the Sharks to worry about, while the Cheetahs have made up for the loss of Johan Goosen at flyhalf by selecting the experienced former Stormers fullback Joe Pietersen.

Teams

Sharks: 15-SP Marais, 14-S’bura Sithole, 13-Waylon Murray, 12-Heimar Williams, 11-Lwazi Mvovo, 10-Pat Lambie, 9-Cobus Reinach, 8-Tera Mtembu, 7-Renaldo Bothma, 6-Marcell Coetzee, 5-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4-Mouritz Botha, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Bismarck du Plessis, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements – 16-Kyle Cooper, 17-Dale Chadwick, 18-Matt Stevens, 19-Marco Wentzel, 20-Jean Deysel, 21-Conrad Hoffmann, 22-Fred Zeilinga, 23-Odwa Ndungane.

Cheetahs: 15-Willie le Roux, 14-Clayton Blommetjies, 13-Francois Venter, 12-Michael van der Spuy, 11-Raymond Rhule, 10-Joe Pietersen, 9-Sarel Pretorius, 8-Willie Britz, 7-Teboho Mohoje, 6-Jean Cook, 5-Francois Uys, 4-Lood de Jager, 3-Coenie Oosthuizen, 2-Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1-Danie Minnie. Replacements – 16-Stephan Coetzee, 17- BG Uys, 18-Maks van Dyk, 19-Carl Wegner, 20-Boom Prinsloo, 21-Tian Meyer, 22-Willie du Plessis, 23-Cornal Hendricks.