Durban, 18th September 2017: The Cell C Sharks are happy to announce the signing of lock Gideon Koegelenberg on a two-year contract.
In 2012, Koegelenberg enrolled at The Sharks Academy and earned one cap for the Cell C Sharks XV in 2013. He makes a welcome return to Durban after spending the past two seasons in Italy, playing for Italian club Zebre.
Head Coach Robert du Preez said: “Gideon is a talented youngster and the time he has spent in Italy has added to his growth and development as a player. He has been training with us for a few weeks now and we are really excited to have him in our mix and to give him a run.”
Player Profile
Gideon Koegelenberg
Date of Birth : 25 November 1994
Place of Birth : Wellington, South Africa
Height : 2.02m
Weight : 118kg
Position : Lock
School : Hugenote Hoerskool
The post REINFORCEMENT AT LOCK appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
A Step in the Right Direction:
All season, the common refrain from the Cell C Sharks head coach Robert du Preez has not been on winning matches or on bonus point victories or semi-finals or finals, but on improved performances each week.
Given how close Pumas pushed us last week (and just to show that it was no flash in the pan, they defeated Western Province 22-12 on the weekend), this result against Griquas – 40 points to 22 in our favour – was definitely a step-up from the previous week, the team answering the coach’s call.
“It was a huge improvement from the previous week’s match against the Pumas in Nelspruit,” said du Preez after the game.
“I have to commend the guys on their attitude and their intent going into this game because we knew it was going to be very tough in Kimberley.
“I was pleased with the result, I think we made them look ordinary at times.”
Although it was a good win, with the bonus point that keeps us well-ahead of the chasing pack on the Currie Cup log, du Preez admitted that he felt there is still more work to be done.
“One area for us to focus on will be our conversion of opportunities in the opposition’s 22, we had about 17 scoring opportunities in the match and we only executed about seven which is way too low.
“We must also work on the little individual errors. But overall, it was a nice improvement from last week.
“I think a big part of that was how we prepared during the week, there was a good vibe in the team leading into the match and that paid off.”
The five points gained from this match took us into a 14 point lead over the second-placed Free State Cheetahs (and third-place Golden Lions – both teams on 25 points). Both Free State and Western Province (the latter in fourth spot with 22 points) have a game in hand.
Our next match is the first of a run of three home games at Growthpoint KINGS PARK which see out the regular season pool stages of the Currie Cup, the Blue Bulls traveling to Durban to arrest a disappointing run of form that sees them lying in second last spot on the log.
They lost 36-33 to the Lions in the only Currie Cup match on Saturday and having won just three of their eight games (they also have a game in hand over the Cell C Sharks), will clearly come to Durban breathing fire in their quest to jump up the log and earn a top four finish.
We will be chasing a run of nine straight victories, and in doing so, will most likely cement our position at the top of the log to earn home ground advantage in the knock-outs and thus ensure that we don’t play away from home for the rest of the tournament.
Saturday’s clash with the Blue Bulls kicks off at 3pm.
The post A Step in the Right Direction appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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