Gold rates Sithole versatility

He was appointed Sharks director of rugby last year and only recently joined the franchise in Durban.

Gold says he was very much aware of happenings at the Sharks while seeing out his Japanese commitments.

"Obviously I was seven hours ahead. When I'd get home at night, that was a perfect time to start getting hold of the coaches. So, probably have a chat to the coaches everyday after training, got some video footage through once or twice a week. We were able to have a look at some of the things that were happening. Pretty up to date with the play sheet, the book and our philosophy. Brendan and I would  speak on a daily basis in terms of what we were aiming to achieve. I'm very comfortable that Brendan was running the show while I was away and knew exactly what was going on. I think he really put a good programme together," he said.

Gold has named his team for the Vodacom SupeRugby showdown with the Toyota Cheetahs on Saturday.

S'bura Sithole is on the wing while Waylon Murray cracked the nod at outside centre.

Sithole was a regular at 13 under Jake White last season.

Gold says he sees Sithole as option at both centre and wing.

"So many people see players who are versatile and can play in two positions as a weakness. I think that's an amazing strength for a player to be able to help a coach in a couple of positions. This particular week we feel that Waylon's experience and the way he's trained and his pre-season has been good. He's been a little bit of a revelation. Obviously we want  to give both him and S'bura an opportunity to be on the field as well because we think he (Sithole) is a magic individual and he's got some x-factor. I do think you might still see him at 13 this year," he added

Renaldo Bothma and Mouritz Botha have also been picked to start against the Cheetahs.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

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