Saturday’s Carling Currie Cup clash against our old foe is another opportunity for the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV to continue to blood and develop young players with the introduction of a number of young stars into the matchday 23.
Successive away games, against experienced sides, is a test for Currie Cup head coach JP Pietersen’s young team, but what a challenge thrown their way.
Looking back on the round one match last week, Pietersen admits that, “It wasn’t the result we wanted, obviously, it was our first outing as a group and reflecting back on the game, we wanted to do well, but defensively we were average.
“So the message this week has been about our systems, how can we be better and stay within the system for as long as possible. We were good for parts of the game and controlled things well, but some guys went out of system and a team like the Fidelity ADT Lions capitalised on that.”
Comparing this season to last, he admits that the campaign has its challenges, but the resolve in the group and the attitude towards success will not falter.
“Last year was different, this year we don’t have experienced, senior players in the group. As an example, in last week’s game, the total player caps in the match 23 was a little over 100 in all Hollywoodbets Sharks games. That just shows that there’s not enough experience and game time in the group; it was a very tough task for them.
“Do we have fight? Yes we do. Do we have good players in the group? Yes we do. Do we need time? Definitely.
“All we can do is take it day by day. There has been a definite improvement in this week’s training though.”
This in part is down to the involvement of the Baby Boks, fresh off their World Champs success.
“They’ve definitely stepped up this week and slotted in nicely,” Pietersen points out. “There are seven of them, their understanding is good, they know what to do and some of them are getting opportunities which is exciting for the group.
“Our main objective is to blood youngsters and this is a competition where we can do that with an eye on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and strengthening our squad for when our Springboks are away.”
This week’s opponents, the Vodacom Blue Bulls, kicked off their campaign with a comprehensive 48-23 victory over DHL Western Province in Cape Town and will no doubt present a competitive test against the visiting Durbanites.
“Looking at their team, like the Lions, they have a lot of VURC caps over a three-year period, so they have a lot of experience and understanding of the game, and if you look at us, we have a lot of youngsters. Last week we had seven or eight debutants and this week is the same.
“The best thing and what we spoke about as a group is to focus on ourselves, how can we play in the system and for as long as possible, stick to the system.
“And when we’re under pressure, to refer back to the system. That’s our challenge going up to Loftus.”