Super start for Sharks twins

Daniel was the only one of the three brothers to have made his Super Rugby debut last year. The oldest of the three, Robert, played an outstanding role in the Stormers' dismantling of the Bulls last Saturday– a fine performance for a first Super Rugby hit out. Meanwhile Jean-Luc also earned his first Super Rugby cap for the Sharks.

To top off a special weekend, both Daniel and Robert took man of the match awards in their separate matches, which no doubt had their father, Robert Senior, smiling.

“It was Robert and Jean-Luc’s debut, I’m very proud of them,” said Daniel as he reflected on last weekend’s matches.

All three have inherited the rugby gene from their Springbok father, who is assistant coach at the Sharks this year. Fittingly, the former Bok scrumhalf instilled a love of the game from a young age.

“We grew up in a rugby household. From when we were small, my Dad used to play with us and take down to the field and we would train with him. We’re quite used to having a rugby lifestyle,” Daniel said.

But there hasn’t been any special treatment in Durban and the twins have had to work hard for their spots in the starting XV. The brothers are quiet, hard workers and they seem to keep their heads down at practice.

“It was different (being coached by their father) to start off with but now we keep it professional, he’s the coach,” Daniel stressed.

While the Sharks got off to a winning start last weekend, they still look like a side learning their strengths and weaknesses. They were defensively strong against the Kings but had a tough time securing clean ball at the breakdowns.

“We need to improve at the breakdown. In the first half it was a bit scrappy and the Kings disrupted our ball very easily.

“Discipline is something we also touched on after the game – it wasn’t good enough. Going forward it’s important to be disciplined. The Jaguars will be tough – they contest most of the breakdowns,” Daniel said.

Sharks fans will be treated to a real contest on Saturday as the Sharks host the Jaguars in their first home game. The Argentinian outfit managed to beat the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last Friday and have a good mix of forward grunt and backline flair. As the cliché goes, it will all start upfront and the Sharks will need to meet the Jaguars head on.

“We’re very excited for the first home game and excited to play the Jaguars for the first time in Super Rugby. We’ll be expecting a very physical battle,” Daniel said.

“It’s exciting to face a team that brings the physical presence that they do, we need to front up.”

Kick off is at 19h10 at Growthpoint Kings Park.

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