Normally the identity of the attack coach might just be a footnote when looking ahead to a new season but given how poor that aspect of rugby has been for the Hollywoodbets Sharks in recent seasons Scott Mathie would be justified if he felt he was stepping into a hot seat.
Mathie, now 43, has arrived back in Durban after a stint working as an assistant to former Sharks head coach Sean Everitt at Edinburgh and given how he dealt with his first media engagement at what he describes as his “boyhood team”, there should at least be more clarity within the Sharks group of what the plan is and what they are trying to do when they attack.
There’s been a lot of rightful talk at the Sharks in the pre-season about DNA and while playing rugby in Durban over the humid months makes it impossible for the Sharks to return to the old “running rugby” DNA and identity pioneered by the late Izak van Heerden 60 years ago, the fact that there is a conversation about DNA is a step in the right direction.
Mathie was schooled at DHS, which just happens to have been the school where Van Heerden was a teacher for a long time (not in Mathie’s time obviously, Van Heerden died in 1973), and it was at DHS that he first started coaching.
Quite successfully too, as indicated by him ending up going to Griquas as an assistant to Brent Janse van Rensburg. After years away, it is understandable that Mathie feels like this is a homecoming for him.
“It has been a really seamless transition for me (from Edinburgh to the Sharks) as coming home is so much easier for me and JP (head coach Pietersen) and the rest of the coaching staff had made it really smooth,” said Mathie, who in his playing days was a scrumhalf.
“It is good to be among your people again. That gives me joy and enthusiasm. The Sharks were my boyhood team and it is good to have my mates around me. A lot of energy is borne out of that.”
NOT A JOB TO BE OVER-COMPLICATED
Mathie doesn’t view the job that awaits him, and which he has already got into during what appears to have been a fruitful pre-season for the Sharks compared to some past off-seasons, as a complicated one.
“My task is just to make sure we are moving really well and we are connected as a team, that we are connected when it comes to the space we are looking for to attack. If we are moving really well then that can feed to where the space is.
"A lot of the focus in the pre-season has been around that. I have been encouraged by what I have seen in the pre-season. There is good growth happening already and if continues like this then it will go well (for us this season).”
Towards the end of last season several young players made their way into the backline of the senior Sharks team so it was unsurprising to hear Mathie speak enthusiastically about the talented players he is now working with.
“It has been really exciting to see the young talent we have available. There is exceptional ability and it is our jobs (as coaches) to be the custodians of their growth. It is our role to help them achieve their potential. We are coaching around a process that will help them reach their potential,” he said.
“There’s a lot of explosiveness at the back with the youngsters and it is an honour to be in charge of helping them reach that potential. It is important to note though that it is a process. It is great when it pays off but it is a process (you have to be patient with).”
EXPECTS SHARKS BOKS TO EASILY ADAPT TO NEW SYSTEMS
One aspect of being a coach affiliated with a South African URC team that will be very different for Mathie is the 12 month season the international players are on. With South Africa still aligned to the southern hemisphere international season, it means that he has yet to work with the Springboks that will be such influential members of the team once they become available to play in the URC and Europe again.
Given that the Sharks have been busy with something new in the pre-season, how easy will it be to assimilate key players such as skipper Andre Esterhuizen, Ethan Hooker, and Edwill van der Merwe into the Sharks’ systems.
“To be on the front foot in a lot of those conversations is really important, the conversations we have with the Boks will be very important so that there is a soft landing,” said Mathie.
“Their ability to pick up systems and structures is good and that is why they are Boks. Them stepping into an environment driven by the standards of the leadership group should not be a problem. What is important is that they feel comfortable stepping back into that space. I am confident that the transition will be good.”
NEEDS TO ADD AND SUBTRACT FROM IP BUILT UP OVERSEAS
Mathie spent two years coaching the New England Free Jacks before moving to Edinburgh for two seasons so he is well travelled and should have the width of view from his overseas experiences that will be helpful when applied to the Sharks’ environment.
However, he stressed that coaching a South African team is different to coaching a northern hemisphere team and that everything he introduces needs to be fit for purpose and the group he is working with.
“It was interesting being part of Edinburgh and a northern team as there is a completely different playing style based around what kind of players you have. There is a lot of system stuff that gets driven in the northern hemisphere around phase play,” he explained.
“But for me while there are different elements to be brought through the biggest thing is be a servant to how we play the game here at the Sharks. I am very aware of that.
"In the north there is a lot of understanding of the importance of phase play, particularly in the 22 metre zone etc, and a lot of time is spent on that. But everything must be servant to what the Sharks need, how the Sharks want to play.
"So it is a case of deciding what to add and what to keep (when it comes to the IP picked up).”
NO JUDGEMENT BUT ALL BLACK HUMILIATION SERVED A PURPOSE
The last time the Sharks took the field they lost 54-0 to the All Blacks but Mathie believes it would be wrong to read too much into that game given the timing of it. The Sharks had just started with their pre-season when the New Zealanders came to Durban.
“We always knew the All Black game would be a bit niggly given where it fell in the pre-season but we went in with a clear understanding of what we wanted to get out of it,” said the Sharks’ new attack coach.
“There were things we were pleased about that were an indicator we are on the right track and that game also gave us a glimpse of what needs to be accelerated. But it was a pre-season game and you can’t judge the players on what we haven’t implemented and done with them yet. In other words the players can’t be held to account for poor performance.
“It was nonetheless a fantastic experience. We have studied the clips of how they went about things and that was a good learning for us. We used a lot of what we learned from that game to aid us in our pre-season games.”
BIG RESPECT FOR WELSH TEAMS
The Sharks start their URC campaign against the Welsh team, the Ospreys, on Saturday. While Welsh teams are often derided by the critics, Mathie only has respect for them and is expecting the Sharks to be in for a tough game.
“I have a lot of respect for every team in the competition but Welsh teams in particular are abrasive units and have great ability to move the ball around. The Ospreys have been signing Super Rugby players which says a lot to how they want to play the game.
“For every team the start of a new season is difficult as you have little to go on (when analysing opposition) and while you look at a few pre-season games, you have to generally go on what those teams have done in the past. So a lot of the preparation at this stage is around your own team and your own structure.”