Gary Gold has had ample time with the Sharks to get them back to winning ways but things are still largely going wrong. The Sharks showed some improvement in Wellington against the Hurricanes in the latest round of Super rugby but still came away empty handed.
It all started in week one of the competition when the Sharks were comprehensively beaten at home by the Cheetahs. Many people put that defeat down to early season rustiness and perhaps underestimating the unpredictable Cheetahs. Week two rolled around and the Sharks looked much better as they came away with a bonus point win against the Lions in Durban. The Sharks were back to their best and from here onward they would cement their place at the top of the South African conference; or so they would have us believe.
From week three onward the Sharks were the perfect example of the word “inconsistent”. As well as losing a large majority of their games, they picked up narrow wins at home to the Chiefs and the Force, and then decided to put on another ‘out of the blue’ strong showing in Bloemfontein by claiming a comfortable win. At the end of round thirteen the Sharks find themselves at the wrong end of the table with a miserable 21 points after 12 matches.
Gary Gold has come in for much criticism and deservedly so. He inherited a super rugby squad that was largely unchanged from last season and one that fared well, if not extravagantly, under Jake White. When Gold was given the Sharks job he promised a lot more attacking rugby but he has failed to implement his style of rugby thus far with the coastal team. The news that Gold was going to bring an attacking mindset of rugby to Durban was exciting for Sharks fans who wanted to see the ball ‘given more air’. In all honesty though, the Sharks backline has not come to the party on a consistent basis and the good work done by the forwards often counts for nothing when the Sharks backs lack flair and creativity.
If the Sharks poor execution of running rugby was something to worry about, then their defensive issues should be considered a crisis. Throughout the campaign the Sharks have been guilty of missing an extraordinary number of tackles. Brendan Venter, technical advisor at the Sharks, alluded to the fact in his Supersport column that at the start of the season more effort was spent on improving attack instead of defence. He wrote: “In my view, the core problem, never previously addressed, is that the Sharks defence is just not up to standard.” He continued, “Never before had I coached a team where defence wasn’t my starting point.” Perhaps Gary Gold should escape some of the blame for this as he only joined up with the Sharks shortly before the start of the season but even now the Sharks still look far from competent in defence.
It’s always easy for people to place the blame on Gold but some of the Sharks players should have a long, hard look at themselves. Not only have performances been poor, but the Sharks have showed a shockingly poor lack of discipline this season. For experienced internationals like Bismarck du Plessis and Frans Steyn to commit acts of foul play is not acceptable and they were rightly banned for their offences.
While the Sharks have been disappointing in most areas this season there have been a few standout players who always give everything. Marcell Coetzee, Cobus Reinarch and new Sharks loose forward Renaldo Bothma have been immense throughout the season. Thirty six year-old Marco Wentzel, who took over the captaincy from Bismarck du Plessis, also deserves credit for not only leading his team by example but for also giving his all even when the Sharks are fighting a losing cause.
The Sharks have two remaining matches against the Waratahs and the Reds to complete their Australasian tour. While they showed more fight and commitment against the table topping Hurricanes, Sharks fans will be hoping to see their team win at least one game on tour. This season is over from a playoff perspective for the Sharks but they still have a few games left to bring back some pride and joy to the Sharks faithful supporters. One would think that Gary Gold is also in danger of losing his job if the Sharks don’t find a way of turning things around before the end of the season.
“Main Photo”
