This weekend’s outstanding 51-33 result by the Sharks under-19’s against the formidable Free State Cheetahs must have come a blessing in disguise. The Sharks coaches would have backed their boys to achieve this kind of success later in the season but following a home defeat the Lions a fortnight ago, the away victory this early on must surely have been a pleasant surprise to those who work with the team.
Last week a Sharks coach mentioned to me that life is difficult for a school rugby coach, stating: “there is only so much a coach can do – quality of individuals and the squad as a group are paramount to a successful campaign.”
Interesting words considering that under-19 coaches are faced with even tougher challenges on an annual basis. They don’t have that 1st XV school rugby coach luxury of being able to watch the under-14’s, under-15’s, under-16’s and knowing what’s coming through the ranks. ABSA under-19 coaches have one season to get it right with players they have most likely never worked with before and then they have to start all over again from scratch with a brand new group of under-19 players the following year. And if that isn’t tough enough, part of getting it right includes laying the development foundations that will set wet behind the ears school graduates on the path to hopefully becoming fully-fledged senior pros in just a few years. A lot of people don’t realise that rugby development doesn’t end at school. Young players, referred to in the system as juniors go through a learning curve and physical development in the first 3 years out of school that is on par with the changes many parents get to witness in their kids between the ages of under-14 to under-16 or under-16 to under-18.
The Sharks challenge seems that much more difficult. As mentioned on this site before, they only offer a handful of contracts. So they really do delve into the unknown in terms of the quality of players that will come on board and fill the uncontracted places in their provincial team. This has often been reflected in the Sharks under-19 results over the years. Slow starts to the under-19 competition are characteristic as they try to mould the team into a competitive union. These almost always go hand in hand with strong finishes though as progress made is swift. The benefit of the Sharks programme is that they offer youngsters the opportunity to play themselves into contention and make a proper career out of rugby. Sharks captain Keegan Daniel is one of the best examples. He arrived at the Sharks Academy with nothing. Today he’s amongst the Union’s highest earning players and a Springbok to boot.
This year’s Sharks under-19’s are perhaps the best example of what’s been written above. There are a few recognisable high profile names in the starting line-up but to a large extent it’s a no-name brand outfit, filled with prospects who have been presented with a genuine chance to become the next Keegan Daniel. If they show the promise, the Sharks will show them the money.
Elsewhere in the under-19 compo, the log leading Bulls beat Border 56-7 while the Lions scored the winning try in the last minute to beat a useful Leopards team 34-27. It’s an exciting competition for sure.
In the u21’s the table topping Free State were beaten 25-36 by the Sharks, while the Bulls who easily defeated Border 66-14, moved closer to top spot. The Lions needed 8-points in the last 10 minutes to scrape home against the Leopards by 24-23.
Sad to see Josh Stander get injured again in his comeback match after 6 months out after he had an op on his hip, looks like he might have torn some ligaments in his knee about 10 minutes after coming on in the 2nd half, if they are indeed torn, might be up to another 6 months out for the young flyhalf.
beet there seems to be a lot of confusion concerning the u21 result,sounds as if the sharks won,look into it