The Sharks - the Article Mozart would never want to comment on

Mozart likes to post articles which is favourable to his views, but this one from news24 would not accord with him:-

"Likely to field a team that will remain unavoidably vulnerable on paper, the Sharks teeter on the brink of becoming early also-rans in Super Rugby on Saturday.

Derby defeat at Kings Park (17:05 kick-off) to a Bulls side with stronger playoffs aspirations than theirs would consign them to six losses from 10 matches and leave them only the most forlorn of remaining hopes of cracking the six-team cut after ordinary season.

Bearing in mind that the Force (nine wins) and Hurricanes (eight) both failed to qualify last season, the embattled Durban outfit might under such circumstances face the ceaselessly pressured prospect of having to win all six remaining fixtures to be sure of making the grade even in one of the greatly less favourable finals series berths with the extra demands they impose.

And realistically, Sharks fans, can you see that unblemished sequence suddenly happening, even in a period when some of their more proven personnel start to mercifully filter back from suspension or injury?

That scenario looks even nearer to impossible when you consider that the run-in includes the entire four-game overseas leg featuring, in order, the Highlanders, Hurricanes, Waratahs and Reds.

On current form, even two wins abroad from that task list looks a pretty optimistic call - the Sharks’ best showing in Australasia since the advent of the conference system in 2011 is three victories last year, when they were in the midst of a much more pronounced winning culture.

It was just one from four in 2013, the only year in conference-era Super Rugby thus far in which they have failed to reach the playoffs.

So the stakes are enormously high for them on Saturday, as they attempt to avenge a first-round 43-35 loss to the same foes at Loftus in late February.

Pardon the enduring bleakness of my Sharks theme here, but I find it pretty hard to see them doing it - even with home advantage - against a Bulls outfit which, by stark contrast, should benefit from the return this week of key figures like Adriaan Strauss in the pack and Handre Pollard at flyhalf.

Truth be told, the Sharks are presently having to put out XVs too laden with mid-table-standard, long-in-the-tooth journeymen ... unsurprisingly giving them no more than the very mid-table status they occupy.

There were positive noises both in the media and from their own management after the 23-21 loss to the Lions last weekend, which were probably inevitable considering the improvement, if you like, from that dire 42-point home hammering from the Crusaders.

Director of rugby Gary Gold spoke of “huge character” and “sticking it out for the full duration”, while also suggesting certain future prospects had “put their hands up”.

There couldn’t be too much disputing of his words on the team spirit front; it was indeed a lot better (though some wags might counter: could it possibly have got lower?).

Less credible, perhaps, were his views on more callow players - without disclosing any specific names - coming to the fore for the cause in Johannesburg.

For if you took aside rookie, normally third-choice hooker Franco Marais, 22, and the 21-year-old brawny midfielder Andre Esterhuizen from the line-up that tackled the Lions, the Sharks team stayed rather stubbornly “geriatric” in several slots.

Let’s face it, the lock pairing of Mouritz Botha and Marco Wentzel - combined age 68 - are admirable workhorses but each past their prime so the second row lacks any special mobility or dynamism.

In fairness, if you paired Wentzel, say, with Stephan Lewies or Botha with Pieter-Steph du Toit, there would be infinitely better balance to the alliance, but the Sharks are still without both bright young Springboks and the Botha-Wentzel duo must be a bit stiff and sore anyway after several weeks of necessarily uninterrupted service.

Utility back three man Odwa Ndungane is another yeoman, reliable Sharks servant but at 34 he, too, seldom puts the fear of god into opposition defences any more whilst Waylon Murray’s best year for the franchise was probably as far back as 2007, when the subsequently injury-bedevilled No 13 formed a lethal partnership with one Brad Barritt, long out of the Durban picture and having amassed almost two dozen England caps.

Minus the relatively youthful spark and flair for the unexpected provided by critical absentees like Pat Lambie and Paul Jordaan in the backline and a rare athletic phenomenon like Du Toit in the engine room, the Sharks keep fielding teams that, while looking solid and seasoned enough on paper, sorely lack any sense of mystery or invention.

To borrow from cricketing parlance, the Sharks of recent weeks have collectively been like a batsman capable of stoically “holding up an end” ... but there is no Barry Richards or Brian Lara to wow at the other.

They struggle to get protracted front-foot dominance, a situation all too evident when they embarrassingly earned no more than a third or so of possession or territory in the fortuitous home triumph over the humdrum Western Force, and they laboured similarly for traction against the Lions last weekend when visits to the home quarter were few and far between.

A big problem for the Sharks, and not for the first time, is that their systems beneath Super Rugby level are either not properly trusted or simply not considered good enough to fortify the team in times of personnel crisis, like the one at present which has given new off-field string-puller Gold, in fairness, no proper chance to show what he really may be worth.

Whereas the Vodacom Cup teams at Loftus, Newlands and other reasonably major centres are already flying high in 2015, the Sharks XV has made another iffy start, with only one win from three matches and fairly heavy losses already to both WP and Free State.

Last season the Sharks were also no great shakes in this lower-tier, development-geared competition, bowing out at the quarter-final stage as all of the Blue Bulls, Golden Lions, Pumas and Griquas, the eventual champions, went further.

Perhaps the Sharks, with warts ‘n all available troops, will show good “gees” again this weekend. Again, I just suspect it may not be enough.   And if that is the case, it’s probably goodnight nurse in Super Rugby 2015, even before so much of the first-choice cavalry gallops, too late, back into the camp,"

Some rather uncomplimentary comments on the  mid-table-standard, long-in-the-tooth journeymen.   Not difficult to identify the journeymen - aside from the  two locks mentioned  - you can be sure that the Du Plessis brothers and Odwa Ndungane  fall in that category, while not so long in the tooth Francois Steyn and   Waylon Murray are firmly in the same category. 

Looks like the writer was impressed b\y the performances of   "hooker Franco Marais, 22, and the 21-year-old brawny midfielder Andre Esterhuizen"  since he named them specifically as the players who showed fighting spirit in their last game,

The problem in the Sharks team are dealt with in one specific paragraph where the  writer refers to "the youthful spark and flair for the unexpected provided by critical absentees like Pat Lambie and Paul Jordaan in the backline and a rare athletic phenomenon like Du Toit in the engine room".   These three players are constantly on Mozart's hate list of players - so he will be upset about the above quote. 

At the risk of confusing things, I would like to comment. The gravamen of this ....er....writer's argument is the Sharks are losing because fresh young talents like Stephanie, Lambkins and Jordaan are absent. 

However, if you examine the facts they paint a different picture. In his last performance on the S15 stage Jordaan was losing the 2014 S15 semi. Will he make a difference to the Sharks? Maybe...largely because Murray is so hopeless. But I would postulate that the moment he has to tackle a big man in space, you might even recall Murray with a touch of nostalgia.

Then there is Steph the dream that forever recedes in the distance. While he was healthy, granted only the blink of an eye, the Sharks lost two and won one.

Finally the head prefect Lambkins. While he was performing his match winning heroics the Sharks were losing four games and winning three.

So on the surface it seems getting rid of these chaps earlier might have helped the cause. As for their return don't hold your breath. Lambkins is dealing with a neck issue, which doesn't sound good to me....and Steph's predicted return will just be the prelude for a proper fix. See you in 2016.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles…[Think about this the next time you start writing one of your lengthy essays or the next time you start with: "I have written extensively about..........."] The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming." (Theodore Roosevelt)

I love rugby and coaching, which is predominantly why I’m fully prepared to put my hat in the ring in order to test my ideas, be it at schoolboy, under-20 or senior professional level.

There are a lot of coaches out there who are in my position but are not in the arena. What really frustrates me is that those lost, timid souls are the most outspoken critics [You recognizing somebody in this, ou Maaikie?]. It seems that they’d prefer to sit in the corner and never get anything wrong rather than stand up.

At least when I fail in the arena, I put my hand up, take full responsibility and try a new plan.

When a team such as the Sharks is underperforming, in my book, apportioning blame and offering excuses is the easy way out. Injuries and suspensions to critical players have certainly not aided the cause but I refuse to believe that it’s the source of the current predicament. Neither is SA Rugby’s forced rest periods that were weirdly given in advance.

In my view, the core problem, never previously addressed, is that the Sharks defence is just not up to standard. At this stage of the season, the Sharks have conceded more tries – 22 – than they conceded in the whole of last year’s Super Rugby campaign. Under Jake White in 2014, the Sharks played a horrible brand of rugby to watch but defended unbelievably well.

SUCCESS STARTS WITH A SOUND DEFENCE

Owing to the fact I oversaw the 2015 pre-season, I should have had the experience as a 45-year-old coach to know that success starts with a sound defence and everything develops from that foundation. I assumed the players would have experience in the bank as far as past defensive principles were concerned but I’ve learned that is not how the world works.

Never before had I coached a team where defence wasn’t my starting point. For instance, when I ventured to Saracens, we literally left attack and focused relentlessly on defence, set-piece and territory. This time around, the primary focus was on ameliorating our attack, and, as such, I went against every single rugby principle I have ever held. As a consequence, not only have we conceded 224 points, when you look at the way in which the Sharks are defending – the players are making every single error in the book in terms of defence.

However, it’s completely impractical to blame the poor players, Gary Gold – who has spent eight weeks with the team – or defence coach Michael Horak who has had limited time to work with the players.

I take responsibility for not putting defensive principles in place from the start. I genuinely thought that the defensive legacy left behind by White would survive but I was wrong.

I asked the players in our meeting on Monday, “Did I even talk to you once about setting the breakdown in the pre-season?” “No”, came the response. I also realised I didn’t talk to the playing personnel about staying square on defence and not turning their hips. I also never addressed keeping their alignment and spacing in place. Perhaps I took the defensive facet for granted because it’s much easier and far less time consuming than attack to implement.

Our philosophy at the Sharks is that you can make two kinds of mistakes – a skill error and an effort error. When a player makes an effort error, it’s their responsibility to work harder, and in that regard there has been a brilliant improvement from the playing group. However, when a player makes a decision-making/skill error on defence, it basically comes down to a lack of coaching. A particular player cannot be held responsible for said error purely because he hasn’t been put in those positions by the coach often enough to rectify those faux pas.

The core principle of coaching is that repetition yields results. In passing, we practiced setting the breakdown; we practiced the width and practiced staying together. Defence was a small part of our training and something which we largely brushed over – nothing in that department was done in depth. As a result, everything we have been doing over the last couple of weeks has been about damage control, as we are chasing our tails in that area.

I have admired the way Gary has kept this group together in very difficult times. The players have not turned on each other and Gary has not flogged Bismarck du Plessis, Jean Deysel or Frans Steyn. He has been like a father – he has duly disciplined them but he hasn’t thrown them away. He explained to them that what they did was wrong but treated them like his own children, which is why I believe Gary will be prove a long-term success at the Sharks.

Do you believe the Sharks will rectify their defensive frailties and qualify for the playoffs?

That Sharks side is bloody shit.....they are missing a number of quality youngsters, but the idiot of a coach is still making pathetic selections.

I am no Jake fan, but Jake is far better than profoundly ignorant Gold  

The smart executive controls expectations....promises little, delivers more. With the Sharks they were written up as S15 winners before they had played a game in the Smit regime. This didn't come directly from him, but the sharks never discouraged this hyperbole. So now they look like massive under performers.

And the hiring and loss of Jake has been a disaster....initiatives started, energy expended, with no pay off. Smittie tried to appease the moaning....he needed to tough it out and add some dimension if necessary. Instead he threw all the balls back in the air and they landed poorly.

N ow he is in effect.....nowhere.

Jake would have made little difference to the Sharks right now with Jordaan, JP, Frans, Lambie, Bismark, PSDT, Lewies, Deysel, Kankowski and Mtembu out injured or suspended.

Jake was exposed for a limited game plan last year and his people management - he was poor......but Gold looks to be out of his depth.

John Smit has cocked up big time investing in has beens like Murray, Wentzel, Stevens and Botha......selections like these have driven away promising youngsters like the Marais brothers at loc k and the continued selection of has been Murray will see talented Tyler Fisher leave our shores no doubt

Moz that is not true......the Sharks had won 4 of their first 6  games and then the problems started.

One would expect a side to struggle a little at first with a new coach.......but to be fair to him he has been without between 8 and 10 regular starters for most of the season.

The issue I have with him now is his poor selections despite the injuries.......there is no need to select the likes of Murray or Stevens as they have far better youngsters to choose from.

One has to ask what has happened to Jakes find in Tyler Fisher......why is this lad not playing 13.....I don't see him in their Vodacom Cup side, so he might be injured......but this kid is an exciting talent