Yep Jake and Beeno again on the same page.
Ex Keo
Jake White has already unearthed a gem in fullback Tyler Fisher.
The Sharks and former Springbok and Brumbies coach has always held the belief that a good big back is always better than a good little back.(Great minds think alike stuff!)
White, when I spoke to him a few weeks ago, raved about the physicality of 20 year-old utility back Fisher, who had played for SA Schools in 2012 and played at outside centre for the Sharks u20 side.
Fisher played in the Sharks u20 midfield alongside Andre Esterhuizen, who was a late replacement for the Sharks starting line-up against Saracens.
White has never been afraid to pick kids. In 2004, when given the Springbok job, he selected a core of his baby Boks, who the previous year had won the World IRB title.
And when he took over at the Brumbies he scouted the club system to find players of the quality of Jesse Mogg and scrumhalf Nick White.
Fisher, according to White, offers a dimension at fullback. He is strong, physically imposing and gets length on his punts.
‘Watch this kid,’ White told me a few weeks ago. ‘He has something.’
White was also impressed with Esterhuizen and when Frans Steyn pulled out of the match White entrusted Esterhuizen with the challenge of playing Saracens.
The big centre did not look out of place.
Neither did flyhalf Tim Swiel, who last season played for Western Province u20s.
Swiel, Esterhuizen and Fisher are still under 21 – and that’s one of the positives from the Saracens match.
The form of loose-forward Tera Mtembu was equally encouraging. Mtembu, another of the youth brigade, is comfortable playing flank or No 8 and White opted to start Mtembu at No 6 against Saracens.
Willem Alberts was used at No 8 and White could look to alternate him at flank and No 8, depending on the fitness, form and availability of Ryan Kankowski.
Replacement hooker Kyle Cooper also showed good impact off the bench and veteran Jean Deysel will be integral to White’s loose-forward combinations.
The Sharks never looked like winning against Saracens, and few would have expected a victory against a team leading the English Premiership and midway through their season.
But the South Africans showed excellent conditioning for a first pre-season contact hit-out and the period of defence when down to 13 men for nine minutes in the first half would have delighted White.
The Sharks created two well-work tries while Saracens were gifted two. The first was controversial as Saracens took a quick penalty tap while one of their players was being treated. The Sharks had assumed the ball was not in play. The second try came from an intercept in the last play before half-time.
Had Swiel’s pass hit the target it would have been a Sharks try, given the two-player overlap.
In other pre-season warm-ups, the Cheetahs would have got value in their outing against the Southern Kings. They trailed 21-7 before winning 36-21.
The Lions brushed aside the Leopards 56-14 and the Stormers and Bulls only start their warm-ups in the next week.
The Sharks, though, couldn’t have asked for a better pre-season start and the physicality and intensity of the match gave White answers whereas one-sided pre-season hit outs usually leave coaches with nothing but questions.
Snapster how good are these youngsters?
I also wonder what will become of Daniel.
