DURBAN - The Sharks host the Kings at Kings Park on Saturday and it is likely that there will be a freshening up of the starting XV that played so well against the Waratahs at the weekend.
The Sharks beat the 'Tahs 37-14 and it is an indictment on taciturn coach Robert du Preez that he pronounced that the overall performance was not good enough, and that improvement would be sought against the struggling Eastern Province team this week, even if it meant bringing a number of new faces into the starting line-up.
“We left too many points out there and lost our grip on the game in the second half,” the stern Du Preez said.
“We need to keep improving, as we have done since that poor first-round game against the Reds, and if there are new guys coming in this week, that won’t make a difference to the overall team challenge and the standards we are aiming for.”
The Sharks lost captain and flyhalf Pat Lambie two minutes into the game because of a back spasm and while the extent of the injury is still to be evaluated, he is unlikely to play against the Kings.
His replacement, Curwin Bosch turned in a Man-of-the-Match performance in scoring 27 points off the bench.
Du Preez’s response? “He has a lot of talent, he had a good game ...”
The coach is a master of understatement. He prefers to say less than more in press conferences, but he surely will be elated that a 21-year-old who has been earmarked as a fullback came on and played a match-winning performance at No 10.
In an another injury development, starting fullback Clement Poitrenaud was pulled off at halftime because of a niggling groin injury that was being nursed last week.
Du Preez intimated that players who were sore would be rested this week, meaning a possible chance for 2016 South African Under-20 flyhalf Bernhard Janse van Rensburg.
“We have young guns in Bernhard and Inny Radebe who need to be tested at this level,” Du Preez said.
With Lambie and Poitrenaud injured in the first half against the Waratahs, the Sharks backline needed to be restructured and Du Preez was pleased with what he saw.
“We saw the class of a guy like Lukhanyo Am, who ended up on the wing and, of course, Curwin at flyhalf,” the coach said.
“We have some outstanding talent in the squad and we are going to back all of the guys. It is a very long competition and the coaching staff have no concerns at all in backing our bench and giving everybody a shot.”