Ex Supersport
One reason why wise people hedge their bets at the start of a Vodacom Super Rugby is because of the attrition rate (PLEASE NOTE ROOTWIT -INJURIES DUE AFFECT A TEAMS CHANCES - ITS REALITY NOT FANTASY RUGBY BOET! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA), and the arrival of the month of April sees the Cell C Sharks in quite a different space to where they were when the competition started in February.
At least, that should be the case in the minds of most punters. Lock Pieter-Steph du Toit and flyhalf Patrick Lambie are probably the two players who at the start of it director of rugby Jake White would have felt he could least afford to lose. Both of them are out for the season, and the lineout and allround forward proficiency that made Du Toit such a key player in last year’s Currie Cup final, and the influential flyhalf/inside centre axis that White was hoping for are no longer available to them.
But what the fans and the rugby media think isn’t what is important. What is crucial, and will decide whether the Sharks still warrant their pre-season status as tournament favourites will depend on how the players feel about it and how they react.
“We can’t concentrate on what we have lost, we have to focus on what we have,” said White after the Loftus defeat to the Vodacom Bulls.(Thats fine but when the in jury list gets too long to it s all over - so far its the two mentioned and Jordaan who will be back)
White told his players that they just had to keep focus on the goal and not get caught up in worrying about what the loss of injured players might mean to the team, and this coming Saturday, the week before the Sharks go into their second bye, will provide a perfect opportunity to test that resolve as the visitors to Growthpoint Kings Park are highly rated by White.
Indeed, when asked at the start of the season which teams he considered to the biggest obstacle to his side’s quest for domination in the tournament, there were two sides that the former Brumbies mentor listed – one was the current champions, the Chiefs, and the other was the Waratahs. The Waratahs have lost once, to the Brumbies, and just as a reminder that the attrition rate is not limited to specific teams, they come to Durban with star fullback Israel Folau on the injured list. The Wallaby will miss Saturday’s match with an injured throat.
But they will remain formidable opposition, and with several key areas now in need of testing, it is understandable that much of the talk coming out of the Sharks camp seems to be about boosting the confidence of those who will come in as replacements.
“I think people might be surprised by the quality of the players that will come through in the positions where we have injuries,” said Sharks fullback SP Marais when he went in front of the Durban media at the start of the build-up week.
“Fred (Zeilinga) was the Vodacom Cup Player of the Year last year, and he was nominated in the Currie Cup Player of the Year category last year too. I don’t think we are too concerned about having to replace Pat. We are all professional players and we know we need to slot in when needed. It’s also an opportunity for new players to prove themselves.”
Marais may have a point. Zeilinga did look accomplished at Currie Cup level last year, and with experienced heads in the form of Charl MacLeod and Frans Steyn on either side of him, his transition to Super Rugby should be considerably eased.(ZEILINGA IS AGOOD ONE AND GEYTS HIS BREAK)
It is more what happens to the Sharks if Zeilinga also gets injured that may be a concern, for former Western Province under-21 flyhalf Tim Swiel may be some way off being ready to be a match-winner at Super Rugby level.(9PLEASE NOTE ROOITWIT TOO MANY INJURIES ION ONE POSITION CAN ALSO BE FATAL - OU ROOITWIT BEING SCHOOLED IN RUGBY BASICS! HAHAHAHHAHAHA)
Ironically Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis, when asked at the start of the season what he thought the Sharks’ chances of winning the competition were, listed the impact of possible injuries as a reason why he didn’t want to take anything for granted.(PLEASE NOTE ROOITWIT -ARE YOU LEARNING?) And he said then that while Zeilinga might be relied on as back-up should Lambie be injured, the players beyond that lacked experience.
So Zeilinga will go onto the Kings Park field on Saturday knowing he has the confidence of the players around him even though he hasn’t been first choice for the Sharks under White and last wore the No10 when he played the first half, ahead of Lambie, of the last Currie Cup league match of the 2013 season against Western Province.
Zeilinga is not the only young player who has shown growth over the past season, and while there has been much focus on the players the Sharks have lost, Loftus also showed us that there are a few youngsters who are now maturing. Back-up loosehead Dale Chadwick, who helped bring the Sharks back into the game by heading a dominant scrumming performance in the last minutes against the Bulls after coming on as a replacement, is one of those players.
However, Chadwick is under no illusion about what faces the Sharks this week, and has reminded the media that even without Folau, the Waratahs will be formidable. Ditto Marais, another young player making big strides under White’s coaching.
"We see the Waratahs as arguably Australia’s best side. They stumbled a bit when they faced the Brumbies, but they are definitely playing good rugby,” said Marais.
“It’s going to be a titanic battle. We are coming off a loss but the nice thing about rugby is that you have the opportunity the next week to rectify what went wrong.”
YES GO SHARKS ANYTHING THAT HELPS MAKE OU ROOITWIT HAPPY IS TO BE APPLAUDED.
