With the play off dates and fixtures confirmed, it brings into sharp contrast, the way this Conference is set up. Had it not been for the meddling, whining and moaning of the Australians, then it may have been fair but alas…
The Sharks had it all to do against the Cheetahs, their bogey team capable of turning it on, not when need be but when they feel like it. I always knew we would triumph but leave it to the Sharks to run in 4 unanswered tries and they set up a knock out game against the Reds, who I can say can be beaten in Australia. But like always, the Bulls and Sharks have some travelling to do, with the Sharks already in Brisbane, and eagerly preparing. Should they win, it will mean that they have to travel back to Cape Town to face a well rested Stormers team.
Form and Pride aside, I feel that the Sharks should look at this as a “nothing to lose” mentality.Will they fare better then previous years? Yes they can, but only if they believe that they can defeat the Reds. I would field a team very similar to the one that defeated the Bulls. No Pat Lambie, Steyn and Du Toit.
I would field a team that could defeat the Reds and hope to build on something special:
1 Beast
2 Bissie
3 Jannie
4 Bresler
5 Marias
6 Daniel
7 Coetzee
8 Kankowski
9 Charl
10 Michalak
11 Mvovo
12 Whitehead
13 Jordaan
14 JPP
15 Ludik
16 Herbst
17 Burden
18 Alberts
19 Sykes
20 Botes
21 Bosman
22 Ndungane
On to another matter…
Pat Lambie is a flyhalf. Our national coach see’s him as a Fullback, while the National Sides backline coach see him as a flyhalf. Now we have a player not getting the back line forward….in comes Lambie, but instead they use him somewhere else, before snubbing him in the first Test.
Then he injures himself in the Second Test….little bit of a lay off, and because he rushed himself back, he injures himself again, this time probably out for longer. I don’t get why coaches allow players to play wherever the National Coach wants them to play? Look, he can play 15 good, solid under the high ball, solid on a 1-1 and deadly when joining the backline with pace, but he can be equally destructive in his preferred position of flyhalf. Read an interesting Post on Sharksworld and this is a quote from there:
“What I do find ridiculous though is the theory that Lambie should somehow accept that he’ll never play 10 for the Boks because of the untested credentials of a fragile youngster who has yet to deliver a commanding performance in any big game, yet is somehow touted as the “future Bok Flyhalf”. I’m referring, of course, to Free State’s Johan Goosen.
Goosen, I’m sure, is a remarkable talent but has yet to deliver anything on senior rugby to rival that what Lambie has already achieved. For Meyer or anyone else to write off Lambie’s prospects as a flyhalf at international level, simply to preserve a place for Goosen, is to my mind foolishness of the highest order.”
I do agree with the writer. And it makes sense, yes Goosen has a talent that makes certain players stand out, but if you look at what both players has achieved, Lambie is in front. And Heyneke needs to take notice and not “mess up”the kids talent because I am still convinced that he is a Flyhalf, through and through.
Ok im done ranting…
Till later