Everitt happy with Sharks' backline continuity
Despite losing most of their big-name players to the Springboks, who are gearing up for the Rugby Championships, the Sharks backline retains some continuity going into the premier domestic rugby competition.
The likes of scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer, flyhalf Lionel Cronje, wing S’bura Sithole, centre Andre Esterhuizen and of course stalwarts Odwa Ndungane and Lwazi Mvovo featured prominently in the latter stages of the Super Rugby season. All those players will bring some stability into the Currie Cup.
There are also a number of new faces in the squad. Former Stormers and Cheetahs fullback Joe Pietersen is in Durban and the vastly experienced Springbok scrumhalf Michael Claassens has been in fine form at training. Former Lions wing Wandile Mjekevu is also in the mix having returned from two-year stint in France.
“I’m certainly excited, we are licking lips with what we have in the backline. Some times when you go through adversities as we did in Super Rugby when the juniors had to step up, it’s stood us in good stead for the Currie Cup,” Everitt said this week.
“Andre Esterhuizen only had one Super Rugby game last year, but this year had almost a full season while Heimar Williams did well for us this year. If you look at scrumhalf, Stefan Ungerer came through well; S’bura Sithole was really, really good and probably a standout player in the end. With the local guys we had playing Super Rugby, this will give us experience and they are going to gain from that.”
“On top of that, we’ve gained some really good players, Wandile Mjekevu and Joe Pietersen, Michael Claassens who will prove invaluable to us and will form part of the leadership group and his experience is invaluable. We have a good make-up of players, with some youngsters coming through as well which is great for us.”
While Springbok fullback Willie le Roux will only be available for Super Rugby action duty next year, Pietersen will be one of the more experienced players to watch out for. However Everitt wasn’t exactly clear on where the utility back would play.
“He’s a very good goal-kicker, so depending on the make-up of our team, we could utilise him at 10 or 15. He’s shown at training that he’s extremely versatile in both positions. We will see what the team needs, pick the strongest backline we can and if it’s Joe at 10 or at 15, it doesn’t really bother us.”
The next hurdle is deciding on who will play in the starting XV – a headache most coaches won’t complain about.
“There are going to be some big debates on selection. Even a guy like Tondy (Chavhanga), who played for Boks but has not played for a while and is an outsider could fill a big role. S’bura’s great season as we have discussed, Odwa wa also very good in the Super Rugby campaign. But there are places up for grabs that guys will have to fight for and we would rather have this problem than in six weeks’ time having to go and hunt for guys at the clubs.”
“We have a young nine in Stef than will learn from highly experienced Michael Claassens, who has been one of the better scrumhalves in Europe in last seven years. Likewise we have Lionel and Joe at 10 and a youngster in Innocent Radebe from the under20 ranks.”
“It’s good for your youngsters to mix and learn from them,” Everitt said.
The Sharks face the Pumas in their first Currie Cup encounter in August.
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