Sharks seek to repeat "perfect example of new template"

The Cell C Sharks are in what many would consider the advantageous position of waiting in Wellington for the home team to return from a long overseas trip but their coach Sean Everitt insists that the Durbanites don’t see it that way.

The Hurricanes will arrive at Wespac Stadium for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash having done a round trip from New Zealand to Cape Town and then on to Buenos Aires. It was a good reason for many pundits to predict before the tour that this might be the one game in New Zealand that the Sharks would win, a view that appeared to be vindicated when the Hurricanes were hammered by the DHL Stormers in their opening game.

The perception changed a bit when the Hurricanes beat the Jaguares in Argentina this past weekend and Everitt says his men are preparing to play a Hurricanes team that will be determined and well prepared.

“Their season has been similar to ours in a way because they have had two performances that have been vastly different from one another,” said Everitt from Wellington.

“They are a very good rugby team and we saw glimpses of what they could do to opposition on Sunday morning your time (SA time). Their last try came off an attack that was started deep in their own 22. They are a team that likes to play at a high tempo. Not many teams come from behind to beat the Jaguares on their home field so that says something about their capabilities.

“We are going to have to be alert on the field and have to keep up with them from a tempo point of view. There is a lot of talk about the Hurricanes having to travel etc but we are not taking that into consideration. We have huge respect for them regardless of the travel they have had to do. And anyway, they are gaining time by coming back home. They will be ready by Saturday, make no mistake about that.”

That may be so but Everitt could also hardly ask for his own players to be in a better space or better prepared than they are this week. He described last week’s 42-20 win as a perfect illustration of the new template being followed by the team under his coaching.

“The Highlanders game was a perfect example of how we want to play this season. We did get caught out defensively early in the game but then it is always difficult to have linespeed andalso cover the back field. I think they beat us on the outside a few times in the first half but foruntely our energy was amazing and we were able to scramble. That we kept a clean slate in the first half was a tribute to the great courage the guys played with.

“We didn’t expect to be so far ahead at halftime, I don’t think anyone does, but if those turn-overs present themselves we will certainly grab them and we showed that. We will also punish poor kicks, so it is not only from turn-over ball that we will attack. What we saw in Dunedin is what we are working towards, we only need to do it a bit better.”

He agrees with his skipper Lukhanyo Am that one area that needs improvement is discipline. What the Sharks can’t afford to repeat against the Hurricanes is the slew of penalties they conceded to the Highlanders.

“We gave away 15 penalties and that is just something you can’t afford to do at this level of rugby. You are not often going to win if you concede that number of penalties and we have spoken about it. It effects possession and the territory battle.”

However, the good from Dunedin outweighed the positive and Everitt hopes to see the team ride that momentum into the Wellington game.

“There is a great team spirit in this group. Centres Andre (Esterhuizen) and Lukhanyo have been together for some time now, Louis (Schreuder) and Curwin Bosch are steady at flyhalf, and Sanele Nohamba was really good off the bench (he played the entire second half). The loose trio particularly excites me, with the differences in types of players being a big benefit.”

Everitt says the template employed against the Highlanders won’t change for the Hurricanes.

“It will be very much the same as Dunedin if the weather allows it. It looks like it will be a good day on Saturday but I have been here before and seen the weather change in a matter of hours. If it hold, and is like it is currently, clear but not too warm, then we will look to unleash our backs.”