Steven Kitshoff, a former stormer of the fields himself, recently let slip some praise for the Sharks' ongoing metamorphosis under the vigilant eyes of head coach JP Pietersen. Despite the Sharks’ recent 26-10 tumble against Sale Sharks in the Investec Champions Cup, Kitshoff sees a gleam of rebirth that the scoreboard just doesn't show. Speaking on the GameTime podcast, he shared a mix of optimism and realistic feedback from the bruising weekend that saw South African teams struggle on European turf.
“All three of our main teams in the Champions Cup took big losses, but one team that actually did better than we all thought was the Sharks,” Kitshoff revealed. He even went as far as to say,
“I think that was probably the best result we could have seen from a South African team, even though they lost the game.”
It’s clear that under Pietersen’s lead, the Sharks are slowly but surely carving out a new identity, focused more on grit than glitz.
Kitshoff particularly applauded the performances of Vincent Koch, fresh off the injury bench, and young scrummaging talent Lee-Marvin Mazibuko. “Vincent Koch, who is back from a shoulder injury, really put up a good performance. Lee-Marvin [Mazibuko] in the scrums really showed some character,” he noted, emphasizing the silver linings in a game that only saw the Sharks cross the whitewash once.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Sharks. The team’s owner, Marco Masotti, found himself in a bit of a pickle, having to backtrack on some rather bold pre-match declarations. Kitshoff didn’t miss a beat on that, adding,
“Unfortunately, the Sharks did lose, and [Marco] Masotti had to eat his words, some humble pie, because of comments made earlier in the week.”
Yet, for Kitshoff, these are but teething issues in a larger scheme of transformation. “But it almost seems that JP is turning this team’s character around a bit; they’re not playing the most beautiful, brilliant rugby, but as a team, they’re actually performing better week in and week out,” he concluded optimistically.
It’s clear that the scoreboard is only one way to measure a team's prowess and under JP Pietersen, the Sharks might just be finding their true north, albeit with a few bumps along the way.
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Steven Kitshoff, a former stormer of the fields himself, recently let slip some praise for the Sharks' ongoing metamorphosis under the vigilant eyes of head coach JP Pietersen. Despite the Sharks’ recent 26-10 tumble against Sale Sharks in the Investec Champions Cup, Kitshoff sees a gleam of rebirth that the scoreboard just doesn't show. Speaking on the GameTime podcast, he shared a mix of optimism and realistic feedback from the bruising weekend that saw South African teams struggle on European turf.
“All three of our main teams in the Champions Cup took big losses, but one team that actually did better than we all thought was the Sharks,” Kitshoff revealed. He even went as far as to say,
“I think that was probably the best result we could have seen from a South African team, even though they lost the game.”
It’s clear that under Pietersen’s lead, the Sharks are slowly but surely carving out a new identity, focused more on grit than glitz.Kitshoff particularly applauded the performances of Vincent Koch, fresh off the injury bench, and young scrummaging talent Lee-Marvin Mazibuko. “Vincent Koch, who is back from a shoulder injury, really put up a good performance. Lee-Marvin [Mazibuko] in the scrums really showed some character,” he noted, emphasizing the silver linings in a game that only saw the Sharks cross the whitewash once.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Sharks. The team’s owner, Marco Masotti, found himself in a bit of a pickle, having to backtrack on some rather bold pre-match declarations. Kitshoff didn’t miss a beat on that, adding,
“Unfortunately, the Sharks did lose, and [Marco] Masotti had to eat his words, some humble pie, because of comments made earlier in the week.”
Yet, for Kitshoff, these are but teething issues in a larger scheme of transformation. “But it almost seems that JP is turning this team’s character around a bit; they’re not playing the most beautiful, brilliant rugby, but as a team, they’re actually performing better week in and week out,” he concluded optimistically.
It’s clear that the scoreboard is only one way to measure a team's prowess and under JP Pietersen, the Sharks might just be finding their true north, albeit with a few bumps along the way.