The Sharks 2011 season preview

THE official slogan of Vodacom SuperRugby 2011 is “Witness the Evolution”, a reference to the changing format of a competition that today has little resemblance to the Super 10 incarnation of 1993 and even less to the Super 8 before it, which involved only Kiwi, Aussie and Pacific Island teams.

Fair enough, but for the Sharks the first half of the 2011 campaign is a mirror reflection of the 2010 Super 14, which sceptics would see as ominous given the horror of what occurred last Februay/March, when the Sharks lost their first five games. Nothing has changed, itinerary wise.

Last year the Sharks started against the Cheetahs in Durban (and lost), as they do this year; played the Chiefs in the second round, also at Kings Park (lost again), and then went on tour.

This season, they play the Blues in Durban (as opposed to the Chiefs) in round two and then are again on tour from the third round.

Will history repeat itself? Will the Sharks lose to the Cheetahs and then to the Blues (as they did to the Chiefs) and then embark on an unsuccessful tour?

“No!” Is the emphatic answer from coach John Plumtree. “I can assure you it is not going to happen again. We are in lot better nick this year. We have good depth in positions that last year were our weak points (for instance, flyhalf, lock and centre). The players know what is expected of them, and in general this squad is a whole year on from where it was (they have just three new big name players). In fact, we have been together for a few years now and I am confident that we will be more mature as a group in 2011.”

Plumtree said that he had fielded a number of questions from the Cape Town media regarding the déjà vu of losing both Neo Africa Tri Series matches ( as they did in 2010).

“The worry merchants are certainly finding voice but we came back from that series in high morale. Yes we were poor in the first game (against the Lions), which was our first hit-out of the year, but we know we were the better team in the second (against the Stormers) and there is confidence that we will have taken care of the last rustiness by next week’s big kick-off.”

After the two home games, the Sharks hit the road early and the itinerary of their four-match tour is one of the better ones any South African team could hope for.

The first stop is the Force in Perth (the eight-hour flight is in the shortest an SA team can make in the competition – last year they doubled that travelling time to get to Christchurch for their opening tour game against the Crusaders). The second tour match is a short flight away, against newcomers Melbourne Rebels. Then it is the Chiefs in Hamilton and the Crusaders.

As Super tours go, that is as good as it gets. It is worth mentioning that the Sharks this year avoid their ultimate bogey fixture, the Reds in Brisbane (they played them in Durban last year), because the new format means they play one less Aussie and one less Kiwi team each year. Although by the same token, the Kiwi team the Sharks do not play in 2011 is the Highlanders, who in turn regard the Sharks as their bogey side.

“It is a start to the competition that we can excited about,” says Plumtree. “We like to think that the home town conditions of those first two games will assist us in that we will have been training in the humidity for a long time by kick-off. And teams like the Blues often come here and try and play their natural attacking game, and come unstuck – hopefully it will continue!” Plumtree laughed.

“We then go on tour and March is a great time to be Australia and especially New Zealand, because you avoid the cold and the rain.”

Then it is home to most of the derbies against the South African teams. There has been much talk about the physicality of these matches but Plumtree is not overly concerned.

“It is going to be interesting. All the players want to play in those games, and they amount to a series of Springbok trials. As far as we are concerned, the physical side of these games is not an issue. We enjoy that side of the game and it is part of who we are.”

by Mike Greenaway. www.iol.co.za