Sharks slump: ‘Nothing sinister going on’

As tempting as it is to think so from the outside, Sharks coach Robert du Preez insists there are no “team issues” plaguing the side on their current Super Rugby tour.

2018 has indeed, to date, been a huge disappointment for the Durbanites as the high pre-season expectations have been shot down by poor results.

The Sharks have only won one of their first five matches and suffered a potentially demoralising 14-46 loss to the Rebels last week.

“There are no team issues. There’s nothing sinister going on in this camp,” said Du Preez from Auckland, where his troops take on the Blues at the weekend.

“We’ve lost two games on this tour and that happens in rugby. It’s not the first time this team has toured overseas and have lost two games on the trot. It’s obviously very disappointing for us as we work incredibly hard. I can’t fault the effort, it’s execution that’s the problem.”

Instead, Du Preez and his men are merely hoping for a spark, a “freakish” moment where luck goes their way and enables them to click.

“I think that’s the case,” he said.

“This is a damn good team with a whole host of talented individuals. But sometimes you really just need two or three lucky breaks. That puts one in a good space. We’ve turned over every stone and looked at everything critically.”

An example of lady luck possibly deserting them is the suspension of flanker Jacques Vermeulen, who’s out for two weeks for charging into a ruck.

“It’s a really tough one. I’m not going to comment on that. I’ll leave that up to other people to determine whether that was really justified or not,” said Du Preez.

But at least they have the experienced Philip van der Walt flying in as replacement.

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