Durban - Nobody can blame Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell for grasping onto some straws of hope after his team had been smashed 35-5 by Leinster in the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals in Dublin on Saturday.
He had been describing his long-term plan of fixing the Sharks and mentioned that the Currie Cup team had beaten the Blue Bulls at Loftus in a game that overlapped the URC one, while the Sharks Under-19s are on a roll in their competition and beat Western Province away.
“With John Plumtree coming in I will be less hands-on (with the senior team,” Powell said. “My responsibility will be to look after the systems at the Sharks, especially the Academy so that we fill the senior team from the bottom and not the top.”
In other words, Powell wants to develop young players at the Sharks and not simply buy an outsider when a vacancy arises. This would ensure that players coming through have been immersed in the Sharks culture that Powell and Plumtree want to make a top priority, and are not just hired guns.
“Plum has played and coached in Durban and understands the environment, culture, and conditions,” Powell said. “He is very experienced and that is what the Sharks need at this point.
“We will make sure we are aligned on the way forward with regards to how we want to play and how we build the team. We have to make sure we get things right from the start. We have a long pre-season in which to establish a solid foundation.”
Powell pointed out that the loss of key players in Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Jaden Hendrikse, and Curwin Bosch had been keenly felt in the loss to Leinster and that this was an unhealthy situation.
“We have to develop guys to be a lot better so that the second choice is almost as good as the first choice. The Academy will be a big focus over the next two to three years, but the ingredients are already there if you look at how well the Under-19 and Currie Cup teams are doing,” he said.
Looking closer at the Leinster defeat, Powell said his team struggled to handle the pressure the Irishmen exerted.
“They play a tight, pressure game that forces you into mistakes,” Powell said. “They almost pressure teams into giving away yellow cards. In their last four games, the opposition has conceded seven yellow cards. And then they are so good with their phase play that they always score tries when the opposition is a man down.”
The Sharks received two yellow cards and in the 20 minutes they were down to 14 players, Leinster scored 21 points.
“Rugby is a game of momentum and mental energy,” Powell explained. “If you take your opportunities it gives you positivity and momentum, and the opposite occurs when you fluff opportunities or have setbacks like yellow cards.”
IOL Sport