Cape Town - While they are yet to live up to the high expectations of their supporters so far this Currie Cup season, the Sharks are showing a lot of fight and working extremely hard to turn the corner.
That is the view of assistant coach Sean Everitt, who has this week heaped praise on a number of his backline players.
The Sharks take on Western Province in Durban on Saturday, and while Everitt said that they would have to be far better in terms of minimising errors, there were a number of players who had been in good form in the build-up to the match.
Here is what Everitt had to say about some of his backline players:
SCRUMHALF COBUS REINACH
“Cobus is a great character. He’s a fighter. He’s been through some dark times in recent weeks so we were always looking forward to having him back anyway because of the energy and the x-factor that he brings to the team. We were just very happy for him that he had a great game (against the Pumas last weekend) because obviously it shows the (Springbok) selectors that he is there and that he can produce. He brings a good vibe at training and his performance was top drawer at the weekend.”
“We know that Cobus can turn a game on its head with his pace and the ability to break the defensive line so we’re hoping for him to put another big performance in this weekend.”
CENTRE PAIRING OF PAUL JORDAAN AND ANDRE ESTERHUIZEN
“Paul has got better and better every week. Since he’s been back our defence in the backs has improved remarkably. Him and Andre are really communicating well together. They’ve been attacking well. We use Andre to get us over the gain line and Paul hasn’t had too much opportunity with ball and space but with the little opportunity he has got he’s done really well.”
FULLBACK JOE PIETERSEN
“Joe is an experienced campaigner. Nothing seems to faze him … he’s a guy with confidence at the moment and he’s certainly playing like that. His goal kicking has been impeccable the entire campaign, his field positioning has been good and he’s fielding under the high ball. He’s a guy that the team looks to.”