The Cell C Sharks travel to Port Elizabeth to take on a resurgent Kings side in what’s shaping to be an intriguing Vodacom Super Rugby clash against a side playing outstanding rugby and getting the results.
Cell C Sharks assistant coach Sean Everitt warns that there is nothing to gain from underestimating the Kings.
“We are aware of what’s coming on Saturday, I see it’s been written up in the media, so we’re prepared for it,” he explained.
“The Kings have been consistent, they’ve played well and we’ll prepare as well as we can to go down there and turn them over.”
Everitt identified the spine of the backline as a particular danger area they will need to watch.
“The decision-makers in the backline are performing well, we’ll have to look to nullify that by putting them under pressure,” he explained.
“Lionel Cronje, who played for us, is probably having the season of his life and I’m really happy for him, he’s had the opportunity to revive his career. We’ll have to keep a watchful eye over him and keep him in check.”
Another player who is making waves is loose-forward and ball poacher of note, Chris Cloete, another who played for the Cell C Sharks, and in fact, was coached by Everitt at junior level.
“Chris is hard on the ball, he’s a real threat and he does a lot for the Kings. His turnover work is hugely valuable for them. We have to make sure we’re accurate at the breakdown and look after the ball. We have a plan in place for that.”
In saying that, the focus is, as it is always, on what we do; playing active rather than reactive rugby, as Everitt confirmed.
“We have our structure and plan in place for the Kings, we’re not going there to defend against them, we’re going there to win this game. And if you want to win, you need to play positive rugby but we do need to stay structured because a lot of their tries come from unstructured attack and turnovers. We will need to look after the ball.
“The kings might see themselves as underdogs, although we don’t rate them as such. They will obviously look to put us under pressure and hope that we make mistakes.”
Given the coaching staff’s desire to see regular improvement, Everitt believes that this is the case since the draw against the Rebels.
“We’ve seen improvement, most definitely. Our attacking execution against the Force was way better than against the Rebels and that’s what we expected after the big improvement we made against the Jaguares, so we’re happy with the way we’re improving.
“The only frustration for us is not managing to get the bonus point – we created a lot of opportunities to score tries, especially in the first half, but two were disallowed. We need to be more clinical and accurate to get the bonus point, but at the same time, we also can’t afford to leak soft tries.”
Right now we have a wild card spot in the qualifiers buttoned down, but do we look to maintain our eight point lead over the Jaguares, or hunt down the Lions who lead the conference?
“We always had a goal in place and the goal is still in our sights, so as long as we’re in control of that, we’ll continue to try achieve a home quarter-final. In this competition, anything can happen. We do still have to play the Lions in Durban and it could all come down to that final game.
“But our focus is firmly on taking it game by game, not on other teams or other results and our goal remains to keep on improving and we need to work on being more clinical.”
The post The Kings’ Challenge appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
Next Generation Sharks Programme:
Mike Vowels is heading up the Next Generation Sharks Programme which was developed to help identify local talent in KZN. The aim is to help these young players achieve their rugby goals, in the hope that when they have finished school, they have the opportunity to play for The Sharks.
The programme helps to bridge the gap between The Sharks and schools in KZN, as many great players out of school are lost to other provinces. The Sharks are providing multiple forms of assistance by giving them access to dieticians, sports psychologists, mentors and coaches. It’s then up to the individual to decide how much they want to get out of the programme.
“We want the guys who grow up in KZN, to stay in KZN and play for The Sharks” – Mike Vowels
The post Next Generation Sharks Programme appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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