For Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Gary Gold, rotational changes for his team’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash with the Bulls at Loftus on Friday night are not simply changes for change’s sake.
He calls it a dream nightmare: the headache he faces choosing a team when there is just so much talent available and players delivering outstanding performances week after week.
But the balancing act he faces is to make sure players are not overworked, while not sacrificing the continuity the team has built up in the early stages of the tournament.
“The issue is not so much about resting the guys now, because they could play another week or two, but it’s about three or four guys getting a break now, and in three or four weeks’ time doing it with other guys,” Gold explains. “So that by week 12 or 13 or 14, when the competition starts to get really rigorous, the guys don’t feel that the load is too much to manage.”
Although changes could have some effect on a team’s momentum, in the Cell C Sharks’ case, given the rotation that has already taken places during matches, Gold doesn’t believe his team will suffer any setbacks at all.
“There is no disruption to the team, even though there is rotation, because all these guys have been playing off the bench, the only difference now is that they’re starting. You want to keep disruption to a minimum and I don’t think this is the case here.”
He also doesn’t believe that chopping and changing teams week after week is the way to go, that it is not the way to ensure consistency, but certainly a strong squad is vital for success.
“It’s not going to take 15 guys to win games week in and week out for the Cell C Sharks – or any Super Rugby franchise – it’s more likely a group of 25 or 30 players. We have players who haven’t yet had a chance, they’re chomping at the bit and you want them to put the other players under extreme pressure to continue to produce performances like they have been.
“It’s a headache for the coaches, but one I’m very happy to have. Let that be the biggest problem in my life right now, that I have five or six loose forwards all playing outstanding rugby and I have to pick three of them.”
Two away matches (the Stormers then the Bulls), against two powerful sides in the competition, in consecutive weeks, is a tough ask for any one. But if not to make a statement in the competition, certainly, winning both would add to an already positive vibe in the camp.
“It would, from an internal point of view, do confidence the world of good and these are two places that the Cell C Sharks have not enjoyed a lot of success in the last four or five years,” Gold explains.
“So if we can come away with back-to-back victories, that will be very important for us. Hopefully this weekend we can show the fight we had last weekend. And show the Bulls the respect they deserve, in their back garden.
The post The Dream Nightmare appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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