Head coach Rassie Erasmus believes the fundamentals of Sharks players are more important for Springboks selection than the results of the Durban side.
It has been a horror season for the Sharks who are rooted to the bottom of the United Rugby Championship with just one win from 11 games despite having a high-powered squad that features nine of the 43 players from the recent Springbok alignment camp – all of which are at least a one-time Rugby World Cup winner.
Fundamentals key
John Plumtree insists the ship will turn as the team rebuilds their culture and Erasmus underlined that the Springboks do not influence how the Sharks decide to approach the game tactically, he is just interested in the fundamentals of the player.
“The way they are coached and what they do is what their current coaching staff and structures are trying to do with them,” Erasmus told Sport24. “Some of them [the franchises] are successful, and some are not.
As a franchise coach, I have experienced times when I have tried a few different approaches or taken a particular tack and failed. We examine the players’ fundamentals as well as their on-field actions.
Since we have no control over their tactical play, we don’t examine it. The task falls to their coach. We are aware of how well they do in the fundamentals, and if they can meet those requirements, they should be able to work within our overall strategy.
“As a South African fan, I hope they perform better, but as a Springbok coach, it doesn’t really matter that much.”
Not Ngcobo’s fault
The former director of South African Rugby turned his attention to the faltering Blitzboks and refused to lay fault falls on departing head coach Sandile Ngcobo, who decided to resign from his position following the SVNS series with subpar results.
“It is not the fault of a single individual when a South African team performs poorly. He went on, “It’s not just the head coach’s problem.
“Griquas, the Lions, or other SA unions could always borrow equipment during the sevens series, but those teams are now all playing during the sevens series.”
“That is a challenge that needs to be met in order to have 23 or 24 signed players, and the new structure has to work to resolve that.”
