GRAHAM MACKENZIE STEPS DOWN – Featured Durban Blog

At a KZNRU Council meeting held today, Graham Mackenzie, President of the KZNRU, elected to step down.  Graham said: “I’ve served the KZNRU for nine years in various capacities, including President, for the past five years.  I have reached a personal juncture in my life, where I now need to give focus to my personal and business life.  The latter requires that I will have to be abroad for prolonged periods.  I believe that in fairness to all concerned, with both the club and amateur season now over, that it is best that I create the opportunity now for the KZNRU to appoint a successor prior to the EGM at the end of the year.

“In addition, the new President will have the opportunity to work with both the new CEO of The Sharks, Gary Teichmann, and the appointment of the new General Manager of the KZNRU to replace the retiring Pete Smith.”
Stephen Saad, Chairman of The Sharks stated: “We will miss Graham.  He has worked tirelessly to raise funds and grow the game at grass roots level. His work in the transformation and development arena was recognised by our Provincial Government, resulting in a five year sponsorship of youth development rugby.

“He unified all structures and his positive engagement with both primary and secondary schools resulted in improved coaching, identification of talent and the number of schools playing at Growthpoint KINGS PARK.  Under his leadership of the Union, The Sharks have taken the game to their broader fan base playing in townships and all sub-unions in the province to help sustain the game and grow our fan base.  At a Board level, Graham has been incredibly supportive and has involved himself in all areas of the business, always keen to add value in whatever role he could.  For this we thank you Graham.”

Graham added: “I am proud of what has been achieved to date and wish my successor, Francois Louis, every success in extending the progress achieved to date.  I am honoured to hand over the reins.  We have balanced the KZNRU budget in these past 5 years, including rolling out our transformation and development programme and the paying of club grants. Together with Supersport, we will continue to support the amateur game and give it the backing it deserves.

“I am passionate about seeing home grown talent representing The Sharks at all levels, and believe the KZNRU has an integral part to play here.  I would like to thank the KZNRU, the Exco and the Council for their trust in honouring me with the Presidency.  It has been a great privilege. To the Sharks Board and to Supersport – our fellow shareholder in The Sharks – I wish to pay tribute to their contribution and support over the years.  Finally, to Mr Stephen Saad, Chairman of The Sharks Board, a huge thank you for your contribution, leadership and wisdom in steering The Sharks.”

The Cell C Sharks maintained their perfect record in the Currie Cup with a 46-24 victory over a gutsy but outplayed Griquas side who were blown away in the first half and could never recover.

For the home side, back-to-back five pointers is a great start, and they will look back on this victory with great pride. It was achieved against perennial spoilers who certainly came to play.

It was the perfect start for the Cell C Sharks, putting early pressure on the visitors and then driving from the lineout, lock Etienne Oosthuizen the man in possession to score the opening try within the opening two minutes of the game. Fullback Curwin Bosch converted and they had made a positive impact on the game.

Five minutes later and thanks to another big drive from the forwards that took them 20m upfield, Andre Esterhuizen went on a powerful run, the ball was recycled quickly at the breakdown and a quick break from S’bura Sithole saw the flying winger over for the second try, also converted by Bosch.

Griquas, always potent at the set-piece, were having a torrid time against a determined Cell C Sharks’ pack who stole lineout ball and pressured the visitors’ scrum into submission as the early indications were of a dominant display from the home side.

It was early days but the Cell C Sharks had found their stride and were playing some exceptionally entertaining rugby, clearly excited by just how well they were doing against a team that has had their number in previous contests but had little answer on the night.

It took until a quarter of the game had been played before Griquas had their first scoring opportunity, converting a penalty to pull back to 14-3. Although, Bosch restored the 14 point lead with a penalty of his own, Griquas finally managed to score a try, the chip and chase tactic they’d tried unsuccessfully to that point finally going to hand and with the conversion, were only seven points adrift.

Then came a comedy of errors that ended in smiles for the Cell C Sharks who didn’t close out from an attacking lineout, but then Griquas fluffed their lines at the resultant throw-in, the ball was reclaimed and Andre Esterhuizen was given the easiest of run-ins to the third try, converted by Bosch.

The bonus point try came just before half-time when Griquas were a man down for repeated infringements defending their line and following some strong runs, Stefan Ungerer twisting his way through the desperate tacklers to score, with Bosch added the extras for a commanding 31-10 lead at the break.

Griquas came out firing and looked dangerous in the early stages of the second half but simply couldn’t penetrate the defensive structure and individual commitment from the hosts as they saw the game slipping away from their grasp.

A mesmerising run from wing Alshaun Block brought some respectability to Griquas’ efforts with the lead cut to 14 points and a sniff of all kinds of possibilities for the visitors.

But, with 20 minutes to go, and mindful of not letting Griquas back into the game, the Cell C Sharks added their fifth try, Tera Mtembu scoring in the corner after some sustained pressure as the game opened up for his team.

But Griquas weren’t ready to capitulate just yet and threw everything into attack before a TMO referred tried to centre JW Jonker was awarded. The touchline conversion brought them to within 12 points of the hosts before Bosch kicked a penalty to establish a lead beyond two converted tries as the game headed for the final 10 minutes.

There was to be no questioning the Cell C Sharks composure as they continued to power their way towards a fitting victory, the scrum annihilating their opponents 5m from the tryline and all Jean Deysel had to do was control the ball at the back of the scrum and dot it down. Bosch added the two and they led 46-24 which was how the game ended.

In early action, there was great joy for the Cell C Sharks Under 19s who came back from a 20+ point deficit early in the second half as they fought back bravely to score a heart-warming 45-41 victory over Eastern Province, but it was not so for the Under 21s who led 21-20 going into the final minutes of their game against EP, only to concede a penalty to go down 23-21 at the death.