It’s a pity he is not closing the door on his way out
It’s a pity he is not closing the door on his way out
They should take a hard look at non-performing elderly players and stop wsaage of money sttached tos uch contracting. Every player over he age of 30 ears should be reviewed as to the delivey levels of such players on a scientific and o emotional basis.
Profeaional rugby should be run on a value basis ystem and not emotion. Take for instance in 2020 thee as a medical student playing as flyhalf for he Maties - a top class performer - was contracted by the Sharks - bt they never once on any level used him to play for Shark teams and that was a venture going down the drain for a variety of reasons. I do not know why it ahppened - but it represents a loss of quality player,
Investment in quality players must be a norm of high priority fo all SA teams - especially when it comes to especially backline players and that is what was and is neglected by the Sharks, They go Van der Merwe and Hooker on contract - but in their first match after returning from the Springbok eam hey vrually never see e ball and was isolated from he rugby played,
Amongst he forwards the S arks ahs top class players - in th backline ohe han Williams, Hooker and Van der Merwe have been supeshit performers, with tolly overwhelming the Uster forwards - incusive of to penalty tries - the massive volume of balls won by t he forwards were wated by the poorly-funcioning backline.destroyed attacking backln ply under extremely faourable situation and they lost the match/
The Blls were even worse - they managed a 1 point win agaisnt the weakest team in the URC. What happened to eb an easy vctory was repalced by total backline malfnctioning.
However it lso hppened on Springbok level.
The Sharks are hamstrug by the present backline players and that is where an objetve review is essential.
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The backline is fine apart from Masuku, who is barely provincial quality and probably the worst tackler in the country. The problem is there is no cohesion and accuracy. Passes go head high, timings are off, they're often bundled together. These are not things that other players are going to magically fix. Get Jordan into flyhalf, send Masuku to play club rugby somewhere until he learns how to make a tackle and a proper pass and then allow these guys to settle. I guess the Boks will soon leave again though.
Matter of fact, let everyone do some tackling practice. With Kok's try, the 12 occupied both Mapimpi and Edwill and still got the offload away to little Lowry, who easily held off Juju to get another offload to Kok, who had too much pace for Esterhuizen outside. Point being, three tacklers, two offloads. That's not good enough.
Yeah, Masuku was dang awful on the weekend. Jordan has a much bigger and also more accurate boot than Masuku. He's also bigger and a far better defender.
However, at that level of disorganisation, does any 10 make a difference?
For me, they need to slow it down. For most of last season and the games I've watched this season, the Sharks seem like they want to rumble ahead with their forwards and transition to the backs in a way that is too fast and too fluid for their talent level. So they screw up their attacks and are caught out on defence.
Slowing down will fix some of that problem and Jordan with his big boot can buy them territory. For me, their big names up front are all Rassie Boks who have played slow rugby for an extended period and been successful with it. Those same guys can do the same thing for you in the URC and get you results because even though they're aging slightly, they're not miles worse than they were two years ago when they won the WC.
I'd say that would be the quickest fix for the Vissies current woes. There's just so much wrong that trying to patch things won't work. They need an entirely different approach. Why not choose an approach that the best players in your team know and are good at?
It's also true that the Sharks at points suddenly revert to mindless phase play that gets them nowhere. Bashing into the same unmoving wall for 30 phases to lose 2m. It's one of the situations that really highlights the poor coaching involved. You can't create 30 platforms and not send it to the backs a single time...surely??? You watch it as a fan and you can't imagine how that group of players is so utterly devoid of ideas.
So, while I would like to see them slow the game down, it's for the purposes of setting a stable platform for the backs...not to ignore the backs entirely when the forwards attempt to enter hulk smash mode.
Edit: Just listening to Keo and Zels and they're talking about Ethan getting a run with ball for the first time in the game on the 79th minute on the weekend - yet he's the guy who has the highest strike running average in the world this season. How is that not the coaches' fault?
Ja there's just no organization. Other players won't fix it. Their defensive setup is just as much of a shambles, the previous week was particularly glaring as it was so easy for Leinster to get wide of the midfield and hit the space there.
Not sure what has happened to Masuku when he started at the Sharks he really looked good to the point that there was talk of a Bok call up
He has gone to shit since, much like Jayden Hendrikse
Its does not help the backline having a pedantic 9 and a 10 who has lost his mojo
If Rassie coached the Sharks there would be a huge turn around.
Most of the players aren't plum choice, they were bought for him. That is the problem when the senior coach or director are not connected to the youth system and phase players in. Buy players where you lack quality and or experience. That is what Rassie did at the Stormers. Knew where the holes were and who to bring in.
Then, it is in the the name Hollywood. So want to be the galactigos of rugby. Good luck.
That backline should shred any team apart.
Don't think the pack is the problem either.
Just not enough time with the boks. Different coaching philosophy not aligned with the boks.
If Stick is so good, he understands the bok culture then he should step out and go coach a franchise team like the sharks where they are all so dark.
He'll fit in and then we can tell his reale quality or if he is just a quota.
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...Plumtree and his coaching staff have decided to "take a look in the mirror". Once the clichés come out, you know good shit is about to go down.
Right?