Clean slate for Lambie’s Sharks

The Sharks said goodbye to a number of long-serving players last year – with the likes of the Du Plessis brothers, Willem Alberts and Frans Steyn off to greener pastures. Their absence has paved the way for a new generation of players to stake their claim at starting berths.

Lambie admitted there was a different atmosphere around Kings Park.

“There definitely is a different feel. We’ve said goodbye to a number of world class players with big personalities as well, and they’ve been replaced by some young players who are still trying to make a name for themselves. But there are still a number of players that have been at the Sharks for many years and hopefully we can get those younger players to look up to the guys who have been around a bit longer,” the skipper said this week.

Last season, Lambie acted as vice-captain to Bismarck du Plessis. He ended up wearing the captain’s armband after the hooker received a lengthy ban for foul play, but injury cut his Super Rugby season short soon after.

This time round, the pivot has had plenty of time to prepare to lead the side – and the former Michaelhouse headboy said he was excited to bare the load with the help of a couple of senior players.

“It’s a huge honour; I’m very excited about the challenge of being captain. I’m fortunate to have a number of senior players around me who are leaders in themselves so we’re looking to share some responsibility this year and hopefully players can take ownership of that and we can make it a successful year.”

As for his leadership style, Lambie is known as a quiet customer who leads by example. He expressed a desire to do just that this year.

“I guess I’m not one for many words, but I like to think that when I do speak guys listen. I think I’d just like to set the example this year, treat everyone fairly and be the same person regardless of what has happened on the weekend or during the week – the same person all the time.”

“It’s a really nice bunch of players in the Super Rugby squad at the moment. There are a number of leaders in the group so we are going to share the responsibility and we’ll take it from there,” Lambie said.

The 25-year-old believes a dry couple of years at the Shark Tank could be the motivating factor to push for some silverware in 2016.

“It could well be. I think we want to put the last couple of seasons behind us now, it seems like we’ve almost got a clean slate to work off. So we want to get off to a positive start and hopefully we can make it a very successful year."

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