CURRIE CUP CAPTAINCY AND SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT:
Currie Cup Head Coach, Sean Everitt today announced that Tera Mtembu and Jeremy Ward will co-captain the Cell C Sharks in the 2019 Currie Cup campaign.
These two players embody our values, have a strong work ethic and together they will work in unison to rally a group of talented players in a shortened competition.
Tera is no stranger to the captaincy role having captained the Cell C Sharks in the Vodacom Super Rugby and Currie Cup previously. He is a respected team man and will provide the necessary mentorship and support to Jeremy, who himself has always displayed strong leadership qualities having captained the SA/20 team at the World Championship in 2016.
Vodacom Super Rugby captain, Louis Schreuder has a broken toe and will miss the first few matches of the competition, therefore could not be considered.
Commenting on their appointments, Sean Everitt said: “The decision to go with co-captains will ensure continuity on the field of play at all times. Both these players understand our diverse team culture and where we are heading collectively. More importantly they have the respect of the team and are natural leaders.
“I am a firm believer in the philosophy that every player should be a leader in their respective positions, however you do need your captain to be a voice of reason and someone with a calm head that the team can look to for direction during pressure situations. We have this in Tera and Jeremy.”
Everitt, also announced an exciting 39-man squad for the Currie Cup competition. Andrew Evans and Tyler Paul have not been included, at this stage, due to their current rehabilitation from long-term injuries.
Amongst the players named is a certain JP Pietersen, a legend of Sharks rugby who makes a welcome return to Durban, after spending some time abroad. Pietersen has been contracted until Currie Cup 2020, where after he will be developed within the age-group system for a future coaching role.
“I am excited to be back home and to be part of a familiar Sharks set-up. The Cell C Sharks have a group of talented young players in the system and I look forward to providing a mentorship role to these young players and playing in the black and white jersey once again”, added Pietersen.
“The prospect of being upskilled within the Sharks coaching development ranks is one that excites me. I am grateful for the opportunity and I am eager to give back to the game and more especially a team that believed in me and my potential.”
Cell C Sharks Currie Cup Squad
The post CURRIE CUP CAPTAINCY AND SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
With the Vodacom Super Rugby championship behind us, it is now time to cast our attention to the upcoming Currie Cup campaign that kicks off this week.
Being a Rugby World Cup year, the competition has been paired down to just one round of matches with the reigning champions, the Cell C Sharks kicking off the action against SuperSport Challenge victors Griquas at JONSSON KINGS PARK on Friday evening.
The Golden Lions, Western Province, Free State Cheetahs, Blue Bulls and Pumas make up the other five sides in the Currie Cup Premier Division which will crown the champion on Saturday 7 September after each team has played six matches and then the semi-finals.
Newly appointed head coach Sean Everitt has a talented squad to work with, but given the short period of time between campaigns, will be looking to maximising the time he has available with his players in order to get off to a solid start.
“We don’t have a long time to get these guys up to speed, but everyone will be familiar with the style of play and I’m confident they can handle themselves well,” he explains.
He has had some time to work with a number of junior players and since last week had the available members of his squad looking to perfect the style of play that suits the campaign, the players and the coaching philosophy.
“We want to play an expansive style of rugby, not 10 man,” he points out. “There was an improvement on attack under (assistant coach) David Williams in Super Rugby and we’d like to continue with that approach.
“With the youngsters we have coming in, they’re going to be required to play that brand of rugby. We’re not going to change anything, but we would like to tweak a few things and certainly improve on performances.”
Although there are a number of younger players coming into the squad, he doesn’t see their transition presenting any great challenge. It’s not like they have been thrown in the deep end, there is history there as well as the importance of the guidance from senior players.
“I have a good relationship with the youngsters and we’ve become quite a tight-knit group over the last few years so I think they will be comfortable. That relationship is built on the trust between us which will make life easier for them.
“What’s also important is for the senior players to build relationships with them too, which will help us and assist the younger guys on the training field and in the games. Having some of the juniors involved in the Super Rugby campaign, whether they played or not, the feedback from them has been positive.”
Griquas are not a team to be taken lightly, despite not considered to be one of the ‘Big Five’, but they have more than proven their mettle over the last few years and nothing excites them more than getting one over the bigger teams in the competition.
“We’ve had some wonderful campaigns in the past where we slipped up against Griquas, but, the difference in those days was that the Currie Cup was a double round. This year it’s a single round which means every game is pretty much a knock-out. If you do slip-up along the way, there could be major consequences.”
But assessing his squad, the Cell C Sharks coach believes he has the talent available to produce an exciting, successful campaign.
“The make-up of the team is slightly different from both Super Rugby and the SuperSport Challenge, we will have a younger team. But what’s exciting is that we’ve managed to keep the tight five together to a large extent. We have lost one or two to the Springboks but the guys who will feature in Currie Cup have Super Rugby experience.
“As long as you have a tight five and young loose forwards, that’s exciting for the youngsters, they won’t be playing under the pump. We want to have a game where the backs get good ball, so we can play a total style of rugby.”
The post New Campaign Arrives appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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