It would be a stretch to say the Sharks turned a corner in Toulouse after a distressing season on and off the field, but there may well have been a bottoming out.
John Plumtree, in his final outing as head coach, fielded an effective Currie Cup team of youngsters against Antoine Dupont’s superstars, and they gave a plucky account of themselves.
The scoreline of 55–19 looks damning, but the contest was closer than it suggests, and the Sharks’ youngsters left the field with their heads held high.
The Sharks have a strong emerging leader in lively flank Nick Hatton. He extracted plenty of courage from his teammates and, in some ways, this performance was better than those against Ulster and the Scarlets, when the Sharks were close to full strength.
Incoming head coach JP Pietersen was with Plumtree in France, and he will be aware that the team’s future is promising. Pietersen coached most of the Sharks youngsters in the Currie Cup, and it will be interesting to see whether he starts backing some of them ahead of the more seasoned pros in the weeks ahead.
Pietersen returns to Durban, where the assistant coaches have been working with a squad of players ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup clash with Saracens. In that group are heavyweight Springboks Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch, Grant Williams, Ethan Hooker and Andre Esterhuizen.
Other players kept back in Durban and certain to be involved against the London club are Vincent Tshituka, Edwill van der Merwe, Jason Jenkins, Phepsi Buthelezi and Jurenzo Julius.
Of the squad that played on Sunday night, Hatton deserves to be involved this week. He is a born leader, and his try against Toulouse sparked the Sharks into an impressive period of play in the middle two quarters of the game.
Scrumhalf Ross Braude is another who is putting up his hand, and his strong performances are putting pressure on Jaden Hendrikse. Braude, a product of Grey College, has come to the Sharks via Canada and, latterly, the Pumas. There were also encouraging displays from SA Under-20 flanks Matt Romao and Batho Hlekani.
The way in which the Sharks, on occasions, out-scrummed the massive Toulouse pack was a revelation, and the origins of the players in the tight five suggest that the Sharks are at last getting their recruitment focus right.
Most of those young players were schooled in KZN: Simphiwe Ngobese went to DHS, Lee-Marvin Mazibuko is from Michaelhouse, Jannes Potgieter and Hatton are products of Hilton College, and Mawande Mdanda and Cebo Dlamini are from Maritzburg College.
If you add the Hendrikse brothers (Glenwood), Hooker (Westville) and Buthelezi (DHS), you get a growing KZN culture in the squad. This is surely a better recipe than the relentless buying of players from outside the province.
One of the reasons the Stormers are so good is that coach John Dobson recognises the value of youngsters who have grown up wanting to play for the Stormers — most of his players were schooled in the Cape.
