The Cell C Sharks will take immense pride, but also confidence into the 2019 rugby season – and beyond – following the team’s outstanding victory over the DHL Western Province in the Currie Cup Final.
A young side, missing numerous players to the Springbok cause or Japanese club commitments, did the jersey justice over the season, culminating in the defeat of Western Province on Saturday to be crowed 2018 champions.
Head coach Robert du Preez was proud of the two Cell C Sharks teams’ (in the Currie Cup and SA Rugby Under 19 Championship) successes, saying that this bodes well for the future as they look to build on these achievements.
“This victory is massive for the Union,” he admits. “The fact that the Under 19s won their final as well and played fantastic rugby throughout the season means we have to keep building on this and I believe we have the squad to be a force to be reckoned with in Super Rugby next year.”
The brotherhood this young, exciting team showed was evident in their success and will be a feature they will look to continue developing.
The ‘Brother-for-brother’ theme was conceptualised by the players themselves and something the team fully embraced. It is also a vital component of a team’s psyche that can only bode well for the future.
“The message is simple: the team comes first, before the individual. A lot of credit must go to our co-captain Chiliboy Ralepelle who played off the bench in the semi-final and final, he was magnificent, both as a player and a leader within the team.”
Although picking out one player who has really grown is unfair on the rest of the team, du Preez pays handsome compliment to a number of players.
“I think there are quite a few. A guy like Aphelele Fassi was tremendous and he never grew fazed in the big occasions. He has a bright future ahead of him. I thought Jeremy Ward and Marius Louw were outstanding as a centre combination all season and they grew every game. I thought Rob du Preez (junior) controlled the games well for us and Louis Schreuder was instrumental in a lot of decision-making. In the pack a guy like Tyler Paul has been truly immense. Absolutely massive. Then the work horses in Hyron Andrews and Gideon Koegelenberg were outstanding as a lock pairing.
“Probably the unsung hero would be Juan Schoeman. He had an outstanding season, he was great. Juan Schoeman – ‘Husky’ – our loosehead prop came up with the brother-for-brother theme while we were in a leadership meeting and everyone bought into it,” du Preez explains.
Captain Chiliboy Ralepelle is equally positive about the young group.
“We’re very blessed with talent, there is immense talent in this squad,” he says. “The belief that we can build on from winning the final is huge, this victory is going to mean a lot going forward.
“We have strong back-up from the Under 19s also shaping up this season, so we have plenty of talent all-round. That will make competition for places even tougher than it already is which is exactly what we need going forward, making sure no-one is ever operating in a comfort zone.
One of the areas that the Cell C Sharks will look to keep developing is in consistent performances. The results in Super Rugby were a little erratic at times, but aside from the hiccup against Western Province in the pool stages, the Currie Cup coasted along with great momentum.
“One of the biggest things we found this year was that we were sometimes our own worst enemies by not keeping consistent in our performances,” he explains. “One of the main aims in this Currie Cup was to stay consistent in everything that we do, to trust the systems and everyone bought into that.
“That’s why we got such reward in the final, we didn’t change anything but everyone was detailed and knew exactly what to do. That for me was what epitomises the victory.”
The team’s music videos on the eve of the final created some hype, not all of it complimentary (that might just have been another team’s fans), but it speaks to the essence of the game and those who play it.
“It was something we started to create fun for the team. At the end of the day, rugby is a game that we play and something we still need to enjoy. If you don’t enjoy the game on and off the field, how will you enjoy the victories? We knew we needed to bring a theme, the Brother-for-brother theme was about being selfless and knowing that whatever you do is to the best of your ability, but it’s for the team. If you do something from the heart, you enjoy it so much more.
“That unity was immense in the final.”
The post The Future is Bright appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
The Cell C Sharks put together a fantastic performance in the Currie Cup Final to come out victorious, showing composure and delivering the goods in a pressure-cooker of a match.
Tactically, the Cell C Sharks proved superior on the day, the game plan keeping DHL Western Province tryless throughout and condemning them to a second home defeat to the Cell C Sharks in two finals going back to 2013.
“Especially in the second half, we had a bit of a nervous start in the first half but regained our composure after the half-time break and really played good rugby,” said head coach Robert du Preez after the match.
Province, undefeated all season, were uncharacteristically error-ridden in the final, the lineouts going completely awry and they made plenty of mistakes with ball in hand which hampered the efforts of the team with the best attacking record in the competition.
The pressure that the Cell C Sharks put the home side under was similar to the semi-final against the Vodacom Blue Bulls the previous week, when Province were nearly upset in their final hurdle before the season climax. Although individual areas weren’t targeted, the general plan was to put so much pressure on the team that mistakes would be made and that plan came together successfully.
Du Preez admitted that the disruption in Province’s momentum from lineouts was a decisive factor in the outcome of the game.
“Lineouts are vital in tight games like this and if you don’t get quality ball from lineouts, you’re always going to struggle.
“I wouldn’t say we went out there to really target them at lineout time, but we knew that if we played a pressure game against them, it would take its toll and that’s what happened.”
Du Preez explained that down 6-0 at half-time, the team talk wasn’t so much about making wholesale changes, just tightening things up and playing to the team’s potential.
“We knew that we had to hang on to the ball and retain possession when we had it, put phases together because we were making big yards with our carries, so that was the plan, as well as to keep playing the territory game.”
As far as effort goes, there can be no faulting the team, but ultimately it was more than that. It was about the personalities and the attitude. The determination and brotherhood.
“All credit must go to the players and to the leadership group, in which Chiliboy Ralepelle has played a magnificent role this year,” said the coach. “His leadership and captaincy has been outstanding.
“We had a theme over the last couple of weeks called ‘Brother-for-brother’ and the boys really played for each other. Credit to not just the leaders in the team but all the players, including those outside the match 23 who also played a massive role this season.”
Although the Cell C Sharks had suffered a 50 point loss to Western Province in the pool stages, they carried no baggage from that match. Almost bittersweet revenge you could say.
“It’s always sweet to beat a team in their own back yard. Province is a great team and they played some fantastic rugby this season, so credit to them and the way they played.
“Finals are a different beast, you have to take your opportunities and you’ll walk away with the trophy.”
At 6-0 down and having TMO try-decisions go against us, co-captain Chiliboy Ralepelle admitted that it was all about keeping the faith in the team and the game plan.
“I just knew that what was most important was to keep the belief, even if things weren’t going our way,” he said. “We knew we could still come back because we hadn’t put ourselves under any pressure at all. I suppose there was some worry that we didn’t have any points on the board, but there was never any panicking in the game. That shows great leadership from Louis [Schreuder].
“We knew we needed to remain composed, keep ball in hand and put pressure back on them. We did that and got rewarded with some brilliant tries.”
The post The Plan Comes Together appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
Fill in the form below to have your blog featured on MyDurban – we will post a snippet and title link to your new blog posts.
Submit and get free press releases here: MyPR Free Press Release | Meet the Durban Bloggers.
