Bosch 'the elephant in the room' for Sharks - Stransky

There is no doubt the Cell C Sharks were the underperformers of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship but they will need to find a different flyhalf if they are to fire in future.

Former Sharks and Springbok flyhalf Joel Stransky believes the Sharks' current number 10, Curwin Bosch, is the one reason the team haven’t fired all season, and unless they make a change there, the amount of talent they have in the squad won't matter.

Stransky said the Sharks would need to take a long, hard look at their own structures before the next URC season begins, and would need to admit there is a lot more they need to fix.

“This is the elephant in the room,” Stransky said on Tuesday.

“They’ve got too much talent there and so many great players. They have the ability as players to tear the competition apart yet they can’t seem to play for 80 minutes, and they can’t seem to put it together.

“I think there is no polite way of saying it. When you have all those players and you’re not firing, you have to look at the coaching structures. You have to look at the coaching staff - Sean is a great mate of mine but he has to be asking the questions why they are not firing and why they are not getting better?”

Stransky said the obvious flaw in the Sharks' game plan was the lack of belief of Bosch, and no viable replacement with Argentinean Tito Bonilla and Boeta Chamberlain not being backed. Bosch’s inability to find confidence and get his backline moving was the Achilles heel for the team this season.

“The obvious flaw in the way they go about things is Curwin Bosch, who is not the confident player that Chris Smith or Manie Libbok is - he is not the player he was a few years ago. He is a player who doesn’t manage space well.

“He is not physical, he doesn’t draw defenders and he doesn’t free up the backs outside him and give them quick ball. It is a flaw when the Sharks play.

“That could possibly be the one area they need to look at, to find a 10 who can keep them on the front foot and give the pacy guys out wide the space they need.

“They have so much talent and are definitely the underachievers. We used to say that about the Stormers, who used to suffer when it came to the knockout stages of the competition, but it seems they have overtaken them. The Sharks will have to step up and find a way to make a start, because they are definitely the team that could have, should have, and definitely would have expected to do a lot better with all the talent they have.”

The Sharks will bring back veteran utility back Lionel Cronje as part of their big name signings for the coming season, but the 33-year old will have the weight on his shoulders if he is expected to be the silver bullet.

While some of their signings have been impressive - like Lions players Carlu Sadie and Vincent Tshituka, as well as Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth - it is at 10 where the Sharks need to find a player to give them that much-needed spark.