April to the rescue once again

Earlier this year, April patiently waited for his chance to prove his worth at the Sharks. He played second fiddle to Joe Pietersen, who stood in for the injured-Lambie in the opening round of Super Rugby. 

Sharks Director of rugby Gary Gold may have been as surprised as many pundits with April's success when he finally cracked the nod to start in New Zealand. He proved to be a catalyst for the Sharks’ stuttering attack and his form caught the eye of Springbok coach Allister Coetzee.

April was drafted into the Springbok training squad for two weeks, with Coetzee stressing that he wanted April and other bright prospects to become acquainted with the Springbok setup. April was released to the SA A squad for their two Test series against the England Saxons.

The flyhalf played in the first match and would have been hoping to join the Boks the following week after Lambie was badly concussed in the first Test against Ireland. However Coetzee, in all his wisdom, opted to call up the highly-experienced Morne Steyn as cover for Elton Jantjies.

One can feel for April but Coetzee was right not to put too much pressure on the Sharks pivot. While he is a talent, elevation to the rigours of Test match rugby is no mean feat and many a career has been stunted or even ruined by coaches who have put players in when they aren’t quite ready.

Gold backed Coetzee’s decision to call-up April and he believes the pivot will have gleaned a lot from being in the national setup.

“I’m sure he enjoyed the occasion but I think he might have been a bit disappointed that he didn’t get a little bit more game time. Then obviously SA A didn’t release any of the players for the Boks in that second week so the players had to stay in the squad,” Gold said.

“As Allister said during the week, it was a situation where he wanted Garth to understand the Springbok culture and what it’s like. I think it’s wonderful that he got the acknowledgement that he did after not having a huge amount of game time – it’s great that Allister saw his potential. I’m sure he loved it.”

One of the Sharks experienced campaigners, scrumhalf Michael Claassens, has spent plenty of time with April this season. He believes the flyhalf has grown immensely and is looking forward to partnering up with him again this weekend.

“Like Gary said, he’s been rewarded for the little game time he had in the season and when he played he did very well. For Garth, this weekend is massive because he plays against Elton, who’s the number one flyhalf in the country at the moment,” Claassens said.

“It will be a good test for him. He’s grown in confidence, the way he kicks, the way he runs things in training and for me as a scrumhalf the way he talks on the field in games has definitely improved since the beginning of the season.” 

The Sharks face the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday. Kickoff is at 17h10.

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