Sharks eager to develop bite without their Springboks stars

Gentlesoccer November 3, 2023

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Sharks eager to develop bite without their Springboks stars

Although the Sharks’ existence without its Springbok stars is still difficult, attack coach Dave Williams believes the team’s development has benefited greatly from the international break.

Williams believes that if the Sharks are to become the global champions they hope to be, they must be able to swim without their Boks.

This United Rugby Championship (URC) season, their focus has been on developing a culture and team that can hold the fort no matter who is available.

“To be able to survive without Boks is something I think is enormous.” Working with a larger group during the preseason and knowing your foreign players will return later excites a coach, according to Williams.

It enables you to concentrate on developing that base and acquiring the players you require for the duration of the campaign.

“You have to rotate and rest (some) as (a way) of getting players ready to play semifinals and finals, even when your roster is eventually loaded with Bok stars. Working in this manner over the preseason has been a terrific step for us,” he remarked.

The Rugby World Cup completed in France recently, therefore the Sharks, who are in the third week of their four-week European trip, had to face their URC campaign without Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Grant Williams, Jaden Hendrikse, Lukhanyo Am, and Makazole Mapimpi.

The Sharks’ previous struggles have been attributed to both their inability to function without their regular Bok players and their subpar coaching, which prevented the team’s big-name stars from playing to their full potential.

They need to keep up their URC business overseas, but it’s unclear when they will be able to welcome these players back into the Sharks lineup after they returned from France this week.

The Sharks lost to Leinster and Munster, the reigning champions, in back-to-back games to begin the URC season.

Under the guidance of renowned coach John Plumtree, things might have gone differently for the team with their Springbok players.

Williams expressed excitement at the performance of the stars of their national team, who contributed to winning the world championship.

Williams remarked, “We have been working with the in-house (players) at the moment and grown as a collective and a group.”

“Obviously, there are real cultural boundaries established and expectations of what the performance should look like when we drop back the Springboks in that mix, so we are excited to get the guys back in and to keep growing the squad as we go,” said the team.

This week, the Sharks and Ospreys square off at Twickenham Stoop in London tonight (9.35 p.m.).

This will be England’s first hosting of a URC match.

For the match against the Welsh team, Plumtree has made four changes to his lineup.

He rotated Kerron van Vuuren out of the hooker jersey and gave Dylan Richardson his first start of the year.

Coenie Oosthuizen, who began in the first week, comes back to the side and assumes control

Chockhumbuzo Phepsi Buthelezi takes Vincent Tshituka’s spot on the flank after the latter was sent home due to a shoulder injury. Notshe starts at No. 8.

Aphiwe Dyantyi, who impressed when he replaced Marnus Potgieter against Leinster, will start at left flank for the first time.

The Sharks roster (1–15) is made up of the following players: Cameron Wright, Curwin Bosch, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Francois Venter (captain), Werner Kok, Aphelele Fassi, Phepsi Buthelezi, Corne’ Rahl, Emile van Heerden, James Venter, and Ntuthuko Mchunu.

In place of: Kerry van Vuuren, Boeta Chamberlain, Murray Koster, Hanro Jacobs, Hyron Andrews, George Cronje, Zee Mkhabela, and Dian Bleuler.