The Sharks Facebook Page Wins Big:
The Sharks are delighted to have won the award for Digital Platform of the Year for our Facebook page, at the recent Sport Industry Awards held at the Sandton Convention Centre last Friday.
?The awards ceremony is an event that recognises the outstanding work done by individuals, sporting bodies and the digital and media agencies in the sporting world.
?The Sharks Facebook page beat off three other formidable nominees in our category – SuperSport, Orlando Pirates and Ideation Station – to win the prestigious Digital Platform of the Year award, presented by Vodacom.
?We at The Sharks have always prided ourselves on our commitment to communication and our involvement with our sponsors, fans and other stakeholders.
Our interactive, informative and entertaining Facebook page, now boasting 465 000 fans, talks of a proud association with our supporters.
?Held under the theme ‘Breaking the Mould’, the Awards which have been positioned as one of the most prestigious events in the South African sport industry, recognises the great achievements across the entire spectrum of sport.
Outstanding and innovative work in advertising, community investment, digital innovation, marketing, public relations, sponsorship and more are celebrated at the gala event.
??Our innovation and interactive communication across social media channels put us at the forefront of this medium and we will continue to strive to serve our fans’ and sponsors best interests as we forge ahead as leaders in the industry.
The post The Sharks Facebook Page Wins Big appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
Cell C Sharks head coach Robert du Preez was proud and happy with his team’s performance against the Bordeaux Begles on Friday evening at a wet Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The Durban Challenge brought the French Top 14 team out to South Africa as part of their own preparations for their upcoming season, aligning with the Cell C Sharks’ own need for a Currie Cup warm-up match ahead of this weekend’s opening clash with the Vodacom Blue Bulls at JONSSON KINGS PARK.
As it was, the weather played havoc at times, but the Cell C Sharks prevailed in a match they led from start to finish.
“The first half was really difficult for the French because we had the wind behind us and we knew there would be a big onslaught from them in the second half but I thought our defence was really outstanding except for those two tries right at the end,” said du Preez. “Letting in two soft tries was disappointing.
“But we made a lot of changes and wanted to give everyone a run,” explained the coach of the fact that wholesale changes in a game of this nature may result in some shape being lost later in the game. But by then, the Cell C Sharks had racked up a 19-3 lead and never relinquished it for a very satisfactory victory.
“It was a great occasion to play at Moses Mabhida Stadium, it was just a pit about the weather. To play here was a big occasion for the boys.
“I thought it was a good exercise although the conditions weren’t great which was a real pity,” the coach admitted.
“But I thought the boys did really well in their first outing. The youngsters played really well, I was very happy with their contributions.”
One of those was Aphelele Fassi whose 60m try, a wonderfully exciting solo effort, took the wind out of the visitors’ sails.
“He’s a kid with lots of talent and I’m really looking forward to seeing how he goes in the Currie Cup this year,” said du Preez.
“But singling out individual players isn’t fair, I just thought all the boys who pulled on the jersey for the first time did really well, I was very impressed with the effort out there, we had to control a lot of scraps on the floor, the loose balls and their reactions were really great.”
Du Preez also lauded the contribution of Nick Easter who has recently joined the team as breakdown coach.
“Nick has been here for a week and doing the breakdown with the team, he’s a guy with loads of experience as a rugby player and I’m sure the forwards in particular will learn a lot from him. He’s been coaching at Harlequins as defensive coach for the last couple of years so he comes with a lot of value. It’s great to have him with us and we’re all hoping to learn a lot from him.”
Despite losing numerous players to the Springboks and Japan, the Cell C Sharks were able to put on a commendable performance.
“It’s good to have the experience in the team, you always need a nice mix of experience and youth, but you want to bring the youngsters through and I’m really excited about seeing them playing in the Currie Cup, it will be a good platform for them going forward into Super Rugby next year.
“The Currie Cup is a great competition to create that momentum.”
Good news confirmed by the coach was that the team suffered no injuries and that they could now look ahead to the Currie Cup.
“I think this match was exactly what we needed for preparing for the Bulls, having said that, the Bulls beat the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein quite impressively so it’s going to be a very tough game.”
The post Perfect Preparation appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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