Tough Super Rugby draw for Sharks

The Durban outfit have been placed in the ‘Africa 2’ group, which means they will have to travel to New Zealand, Argentina and Japan during the season. The toughest leg will see them return home from their tour of New Zealand for just a week, before jetting off once again to face the newly included Jaguars in Argentina.

All in all, the Sharks will play seven games at home and eight games away - a tough ask in the mind of director of rugby Gary Gold.

“It’s a very difficult conference. There are 15 games in the competition and eight of them away from home. We will play three of them in New Zealand on the trot, come home to play a New Zealand team who are waiting for us and then get on a plane to Argentina – I don’t think you understand the toll on the bodies,” Gold said.

“To fly east to west, recover from jet lag and play a game then fly east to west again to play another game – that’s the jet lag side and we have to plan for that and it’s a big challenge. But next year will be a different kettle of fish, I think we’ll play in an Australian group and we’ll have eight games at home and seven away and be sitting where the other guys are. 

"But all I’ll say is, in a competition at the highest level, all you really would want is a level playing field and this competition doesn’t provide you with that, which is a little bit absurd but it is what it is.”

The Sharks won’t face any Australian teams this year but have matches against all the New Zealand sides, as well as the Japanese Sunwolves and Jaguars. A full house of South African derbies completes their fixtures for the year.

Of all those matches, Gold was keenly interested in facing the two new teams in the competition.

“I’m excited to play the Japanese team, excited to go to Argentina and play there against what I think is going to be a very good team. It’s great for the game that they’re participating so it’s nice to be in a pioneering competition that incorporates so many countries. It’s going to be a tough task and we’ve got a tough draw but such is life, it’s not an excuse, it just means our planning and preparation is going to have to be very precise.”

While Japanese rugby will be riding the crest of the wave following their victory over the Springboks in last year’s World Cup, Gold was more concerned with the quality players the Jaguars have. Captained by Argentinian skipper Agustin Creevy, they certainly will be a force in the competition.

“I think there is a huge amount of confidence in both of those countries now for their rugby. I see now in Japanese Top League, those fixtures are now getting full houses there. The Japanese World Cup team did a huge amount for rugby in Japan; it’s wonderful that it’s so popular,” Gold said.

“The Japanese team will be slightly different because it won’t be their full national team but the Argentinian team is going to have nearly twelve guys that played in the World Cup – they’re going to be ferocious.

“They’re well drilled, Agustin Creevy is a fantastic captain, they’ve got a good coaching staff, and they’ll be formidable. They’re going to shock some people and they’re going to be potential contenders. They’re a tight bunch of guys, their latino blood means they play with a lot of passion.

“They’re going to be up for it, ask a lot of questions and teams travelling to Argentina are going to find life pretty tough down there. I’m not sure the Sunwolves are going to be that formidable at this moment in time, only because of the lateness of the planning, but we’ll see as the competition progresses,” Gold said.

The Sharks are away to the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth for their first match of the tournament. That gets underway on February 27. 

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