Sharks continue the kicking BS

Normally I always root for the SA teams but I'm glad the Sharks lost yesterday. A few times the kicking crap worked exactly as the Sharks wanted it to and it still amounted to nothing. They were lucky to be in the game. Both Mvovo's tries on any other given day would not have happened. Similar to the WC game between the Boks and ABs, the scoreline was massively deceiving. I stopped counting at 13 high balls that were too deep for the chaser to have a chance. That's 13 times, in 80 minutes the ball was just given away, or once per 7 minutes. Pure rubbish. Hate it! Then when they did try to run it towards the end they were totally clueless. Anyone who thinks Reinach is first choice for the Boks is very sadly mistaken. Poor decision making and bad execution.

 Sharks were in a bind, the weren't dominant in the forwards so ended up being in defense a lot with few opportunities. They weren't confident in their backs either so that left defense and kicking. Plus trying to win off the Saders mistakes. They couldn't see there way out of that bind.
IMO they were lucky the score was so close.

 you are very right, plum,...... the difference btwin both teams' kick and chases was evident,.... sharks' aimless kicking and saders' superiority in the set pieces were the reasons why the game was played in sharks territory (67%) and for the saders' win.

kick and chase is one of the most basic issues in rugby,..... it's difficult to understand that some professionals can implement it so badly,..... the kicking is something that can be improved with training (unlike other skills),...... after such a performance if I were the coach I would have at least the outside backs and flyhalves practicing the kicks every day after the trainings until they do it correctly

 ABF
I fully agree with you about what you said about the kicking game yesterdeay.
What happened in the case of both the Stormers and the Sharks were not rugby - it was utter BS and not rugby s it should be played.  There is room for kicking - the Highlanders has done wonders in that case.  

 A good tactical kicking game is a very effective. ABs used it very well & in some cases kicked more than the Boks & other teams. I agree if the Sharks had used an effective kicking game they may have won this game in spite of their poor performance. The Saders missed a lot shots at goal (I think it totaled 11 points) so the Sharks had their chances. A good  kicking game may have made the difference.

What I will never understand is why it takes 80 minutes to come to the conclusion that a strategy is not working. Are the Sharks so poor as a team that they had nothing else to offer on the day? They were not completely dominated in the scrum. They were not on top but there were periods where they held. Especially towards the end. They opposition didn't starve them of posession either. They had the ball, but gave it away aimlessly time and time again...to one of the best back lines in the competition. I really thought the days of this kak was over. Clearly Gold has been taking tips from Meyer. Dammit man! When will they learn. Yes kicking does obviously work. But it will never again be succesful as a sole strategy. Like a boxer always going for the right cross. Use it properly and it's hard to defend...use it over and over and over you'll be tasting canvas. Even if each one you throw is technically perfect. Mix it up for fuk sakes! Idiots.

 Yep, when I said Reinach was a hopeless tactician and poor at clearing the ball...I was howled down. Turns out thats the truth, his best attribute is his boot.
Plum you are right the Sharks have testosterone for brains....it's all effort rugby. Still what are you going to do when your outside centre is so passive he comes off the park without even trying to get in position to make a run.....and your inside centre is so slow he was tried at flank. Hell Burden who was moved from centre to hooker is faster than this guy....did you see Brummer round him with ease last weekend.

 Mozart
The story about the Sharks are not as bad as it was under White when the Crusaders beat the Sharks by 30+ points.   The problem is the last time the Crusaders were beaten by the Sharks was when the two players you dislike most in the team - Reinach and Jordaan - made the difference in the game.
There is a huge problem with the kicking game of the Sharks and that problem as not solved yet.   The problem remains donkey-kicking away balls  and then trying to defend against the resultant counter-attacks.  When is that idiocy ever to stop in SA teams?
How ever, it is funny to hear the person who supported the donkey-kicking players ardently criticize other players because of a crazy kicking game.             

 Hmm that would be the game when Deysel was carded...here's the MOM for that game. 
LEATHERMAN SA PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Every Sharks player, except Jean Deysel, deserves this award, but we've got to pick one. After a poor performance against the Brumbies last week, Frans Steyn returned to top form with an excellent goal-kicking performance and a strong break that resulted in S'bura Sithole's try.

 Again the BS overflows in the game you refer to,  Crotty went out of line and Fransie made a clean break with no defenders beaten and ran for about 40 meters and then passed the ball to Sithole.  Miracle since in the whole year he made 2 line breaks beating 8 defenders - the worst performance of any center in the competition.  His tackle count was less than any other center and his missed tackle count the highest of any center.
A few minutes after that miracle he did not even attempt a tackle on Slade who scored a try.  He was for three years running the worst backline player in the Sharks team (ie from 2013 to 2015), but you supported him because he could kick at goal from long distances.  His out-of-hand kicking was consistently poor and inaccurate and he had no idea as to when to kick and when not to.   As a result in 2014 he lost possession more than anybody else ever in the competition in either the center and flyhalf positions and had a worse missed tackle ratio as well.  In 2013 he was dropped from the team as he was no center - in 2014 he was poor and in 2015 a disaster.  The Sharks was delighted when his contract ran out and he would at best be playing for the Kings if he was to continue to play in SA.  The rest of the teams - even the Stormers with their useless backline would not touch him with a bargepole and SARU did not renew his contract with them when it ran out in 2015.   
Yet you supported him as a player to play in the Springbok squad last year - one of the long list of your favourite players who were not included in the squad because of consistent poor performances or turned out to be flops in the Springbok squad.
Best advice - forget about continued support of the flops - especially those who cannot make the starting line-ups of their club teams four months after the end of the WC last year.  Fransie is still grossly overweight at 115 kgs and is in the Montpellier team because of rank favouritism by White - no other Top 14 team would have contracted him - too slow in even the NH teams.       
                  

 Mike, it is as you say "Complete idiocy". There is not a person I know of that supports that game plan. And yet they continue with it. Granted they'd been on a winner streak. Nevertheless, maybe the Sharks should persist with it for this season just so that SA coaches can finally agree that it doesn't work anymore. The reason this game got me so angry is because it reminded me so much of the Bok AB game in the WC. It's funny how this kind of rugby is called muscle rugby but it's actually spineless and cowardly.

Frans Steyn was a quality player but like so many he was completely mis-used. Just my opinion.

 Plum
The problem with Frans Steyn was in fact two-fold, namely -
*  he was so overweight (ie by about 15 kgs) that he lost speed drastically and developed a whacky knee (when playing for the Sharks he weighed 118 kgs - while his natural weight as a sportsman was supposed to be 103 to 105 kgs); and
*  White used him as a battering ram and kicker away of balls - in both he was unsuccessful. 
Frans Steyn when he hit the scene was a full back and also used on the wing.  There he had more time to assess the various options.  At that stage he weighed 98 kgs and his weight gradually increased to 103kgs.  It was in France that he went to 118 kgs and the resultant lack of pace made his usage at full back and wing a virtual impossibility.  At flyhalf and Center - where he was used since then - he was not meeting requirements and his decision-making was seriously flawed.  
In the main Steyn paid more attention to growing his gut than to attend to his pace.  I saw a photo last year of him after an injury playing for the Sharks and he had a distinct Boepie developing.  
He is not an acceptable player anymore - ad was not one from 2013 when Plumtree told him to get his weight under control and when he did not comply - dropped him from the team.   White protected him and allowed him to ruin the Sharks backline and last year he was a rank disaster for the Sharks as well.    A good and promising player that went to seed early - I am afraid.