Here is the player ratings by the Sharksworld programme - they always tend to give fairly lineral ratings to all Sharks players - I may add.
1. Beast Mtawarira. The pack put in a good display and Beast appeared dominant in the scrum contest to everyone besides the ref. Put in a few carries and made a tackle or two, but far from his best performance. 6/10
2. Bismarck du Plessis. Battled valiantly as always and was strong in the set piece contest until right at the end, when a few poor lineout throws proved costly. Personal discipline slipped a little as the Brumby provocation started to get to him. 6/10
3. Jannie du Plessis. Has an unfortunate tendency to implode at just the wrong times, with the penalty he conceded for an illegal ruck clean – just as the Sharks enjoyed a rare foray into the opposition 22 – a case in point. Scrummed strongly, but again conceded too many penalties at this phase, whether rightly or not. 5/10
4. Willem Alberts. A key man who’s not looking happy or settled at the moment. We know Alberts doesn’t like playing number 4 and based on this sort of performance, it seems silly to keep picking him there. 5/10
5. Stephan Lewies. A very good outing. Ever-present on attack and worked furiously off the ball. Line-outs were flawless while he was on the park and even managed a few crucial steals on Brumby ball. His best all-round performance to date. 7/10
6. Keegan Daniel. In a game-plan that doesn’t encourage any form of playing with the ball, a guy like Keegan becomes a very expensive luxury. Simply put, Marcell Coetzee at 6 fits this pattern like a glove. Keegan Daniel is always going to be a third wheel. 5/10
7. Jean Deysel. A second stand-out performance in succession for a player whose consistency has not always been as good as we’d like. Deysel was a key man for the Sharks and I shudder to think how much worse things might have been had he not been there. 7/10
8. Ryan Kankowski. Very involved in a lot of the play, for very little real impact. It’s quite sad to think just how long it’s been since we actually saw Hoff flying in space the way we used to. 6/10
9. Cobus Reinach. His performance was the ray of blinding light on a day that was otherwise filled with gloom. Reinach, on this sort of form, is a dangerous man indeed, but what was more impressive was the way he kept up with good service despite being prepared to have a go when things looked on. 8/10
10. Francois Steyn. As good as the one halfback was, the other was equally poor. Steyn has always worn the flyhalf role like a particularly ill-fitting suit and on Saturday, his accuracy in execution was just not there – to the Sharks’ detriment. I hope we never go into another key game without a back-up plan at flyhalf. 4/10
11. JP Pietersen. It feels a bit like he’s sleepwalking his way through games at the moment, which simply isn’t good enough for a man of his skill and experience. 5/10
12. Paul Jordaan. Was hardly used all game long – a real waste. 5/10
13. S’bura Sithole. Just like Jordaan, the combination of a kick-based game plan and an off radar for the flyhalf resulted in very little for him to do on attack. Having a player like this on the field, yet not finding ways to get him the ball, is just criminal. 5/10
14. Odwa Ndungane. Once again showed the value of his experience, with a game that was low on errors in the face of constant aerial bombardment from the opposition. 6/10
15. Lwazi Mvovo. Another strong outing at fullback and appeared one of the few who may have made something happen on attack. 7/10
16. Kyle Cooper. Unused, again.
17. Dale Chadwick. Little opportunity to do much other than scrum. 5/10
18. Lourens Adriaanse. Kept his shape at scrum time, but was quiet otherwise. 5/10
19. Ettienne Oosthuizen. Not on long enough to rate.
20. Tera Mtembu. Played out of position at flank, his impact was negligible. 5/10
21. Charl McLeod. A poor performance, marked by slow service an inaccurate execution. 4/10
22. Heimar Williams. Replaced Jordaan on two separate occasions, but had no opportunity to do anything in his 15 minutes on the park. 5/10
23. SP Marais. Another solid outing off the bench. SP surely has to be pushing Pietersen for a position in the starting back 3. 6/10
Mozart's Own Dismal Assessments
The above indicates a very dismal rating of especially when it comes to some favoured players and Mozart's own assessment of Francois Steyn in particular and the wonderful write-up he gave Steyn repeatedly :-
3. Jannie du Plessis. Has an unfortunate tendency to implode at just the wrong times, with the penalty he conceded for an illegal ruck clean – just as the Sharks enjoyed a rare foray into the opposition 22 – a case in point. Scrummed strongly, but again conceded too many penalties at this phase, whether rightly or not. 5/10
4. Willem Alberts. A key man who’s not looking happy or settled at the moment. We know Alberts doesn’t like playing number 4 and based on this sort of performance, it seems silly to keep picking him there. 5/10
10. Francois Steyn. As good as the one halfback was, the other was equally poor. Steyn has always worn the flyhalf role like a particularly ill-fitting suit and on Saturday, his accuracy in execution was just not there – to the Sharks’ detriment. I hope we never go into another key game without a back-up plan at flyhalf. 4/10.
SUMMARY
The above three players were definitely vastly overrated and they should have been given 3/10 for their efforts.
Mozart must be shocked by the comments about Steyn at flyhalf - especially since he favoured him as Springbok flyhalf. When ever he comes up with that BS one again,I am going to quote "Steyn has always worn the flyhalf role like a particularly ill-fitting suit" to deal with that one conclusively.
