How good are the Sharks going to be in 2016? It is a question on the lips of their supporters.
|||How good are the Sharks going to be in 2016? It is a question on the lips of their supporters and by the admission of coach Gary Gold all will be significantly the wiser after the next fortnight of local derbies against the Stormers (tomorrow) and the Bulls (next week).
Both games are away for the Durbanites and will provide a double litmus test for Gold’s charges, who have won four games this season if you add the two warm-ups in France to the Super Rugby defeats of the Kings and Jaguares.
“It is pretty fair comment that we will know where we are after the next two games,” Gold agreed. “We will see a pecking order in South African rugby emerging. With respect to the teams we have played in the first two rounds, the Stormers at Newlands will certainly be our sternest test to date.”
Morale is high in the Sharks team but Gold said his players need no reminding that Newlands will be a seething cauldron of hostility tomorrow evening (5pm kick-off).
“The guys are a bit nervous and that is not a bad thing, but I would say they are more excited than anything else because these big games are what they play for,” the former Springbok forwards coach said. “We feel energised by this challenge and, yes, we are also keen to evaluate where we are this season.”
Gold went so far as to say that whoever is paying attention as a possible future Springbok coach (Rassie Erasmus, Allistair Coetzee, AN Others...!), this fortnight’s derbies double as Springbok trials.
“I love these games and how much they mean to the players,”Gold said. “For sure they are also mini-Springbok trials, especially in the new format where you don’t play all the South African teams home and away. This is the only game we play the Stormers and it is huge for both sets of players in that it is an opportunity for them to state their case.
“It is a respect thing,” Gold continued. “Our Springbok players do not want to go to a Bok training camp knowing a rival there has had one over them in a Super Rugby game. I can tell you that for the Sharks, this game is about putting a stake in the ground and earning our stripes.
“We had a bad day in our last match in Super Rugby at Newlands last year. We lost quite heavily and we have not forgotten that. We want to make our supporters proud again. We will have a lot of supporters at this game.”
Gold has had the luxury of selecting an unchanged team for the match, a new experience for him given that this time last year key players were already dropping out like flies because of suspension or injury. He said the starting line-up was not far off full strength with the obvious exception of injured captain and flyhalf Patrick Lambie.
“It is close to an ideal team with some obvious exceptions and we as coaches are pleased to be able to go for cohesion and stability this week,” he said. - The Star
