Durban — Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell was given a baptism of fire by the media at his team announcement press conference for Friday’s game against Ospreys and like a seasoned Blitzbok, he neatly jinked through a minefield of difficult questions, including his lack of experience in coaching fifteens.
With coach Sean Everitt having left the Shark Tank on Monday, Powell has taken up an interim position of head coach and he said he will assume this role “for the next few months”.
“Rugby is rugby,” the calm and composed Powell said when asked if he was suitably qualified to step into a head coach role, having largely been a Sevens coach. “But it is not just about me. Coaching is teamwork and I have unbelievable assistants such as (attack coach) Noel McNamara; Yannik Bru, a very experienced forwards coach who had success with France and with provincial teams there; (scrum coach) Akvsenti Giorgadze and Warren Whiteley (the former Springbok captain). It is not a one-man job and we have a strong coaching team.”
Powell comes across much like Everitt — a decent man who is passionate about rugby and is forthright in his answers. When asked if he felt under pressure, he admitted that pressure is not far off.
“We all know that results matter in sport and if they are not what they should be in the next few weeks, of course there will be pressure. But we are here to be successful and we have a strong group that is committed to success and if it is not immediate, we will keep chipping away until we are where we want to be,” the 44-year-old said.
“Our goals remain the same (ultimately to win the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup) and the whole squad of 50 players discussed this — nothing has changed in terms of goals and we discussed what happened and how to refocus on making things better.”
Importantly, though, Powell said that the time for talking is over.
“A lot has been said in a different week, but now we have to put the words into action. We can speak as much as we like, but it is actions that count. The message this week is about effort and making things happen,” Powell said.
The Sharks could not have asked for an easier fixture in which to bounce back from the 35-0 loss to Cardiff. Their countrymen, Ospreys, have won just one game this season and surely are ripe for the picking but Powell is wary of that trap.
“There is no easy game, and we saw in our game against Cardiff that we can’t just run onto the field and think things will just happen for us ... This is where we have to act on what we have spoken about. Against Cardiff, we let ourselves down with effort and action, now we have to step up,” he said.
Sharks: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Marnus Potgieter, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Jeandre Labuschagne, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Vincent Tshituka, 4 Gerbrant Grobler, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 James Venter, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Nevaldo Fleurs, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg
IOL Sport