Cape Town - Gary Gold says his decision to take a hands-on approach and coach the Sharks this Currie Cup season was fueled by his desire to bring a sense of continuity back into the franchise.
Gold is the union's Director of Rugby, and it came as a surprise last week when the Sharks unveiled him as their Currie Cup coach.
But Gold, speaking at a press conference in Durban yesterday, provided some clarity on why he had decided to be the man in charge of a campaign that will likely be low-key as attention remains fixed on the Springboks and their World Cup ambitions.
"We aren’t going to make any knee-jerk reactions about bringing anyone in at a moment’s notice. We identified a candidate but for personal reasons, the individual couldn’t come in," Gold said.
"But, continuity, for me, was the most important thing. I really wanted our junior teams to be given a lot of care and attention and proper coaches.
"For a number of years, The Sharks haven’t had contracted coaches who work with us, where we have the same vision and planning of where we want to go. There is such a short space of time between Super Rugby and the Currie Cup, it made sense to continue."
Gold added that the departure of Brad Macleod-Henderson would be felt, but that in assistants Ryan Strudwick and Shaun Everitt the Sharks had a more than competent replacement, especially given their focus on the youth.
"Brad chose to move on so it made perfect sense for Ryan Strudwick to step up. His experience speaks volumes, not only did we work together in the UK, he was our captain and we won trophies together, but he’s been an outstanding coach in KZN for a number of years," said Gold.
"For me it’s a very exciting prospect to take Durban boys and be able to bring them through. Sean Everitt’s experience is fantastic. He was a rock in the Super Rugby competition, he’s coached at club level and been successful there and he’s done very well with the juniors. It’s great continuity to be able to bring these guys through and I’m very excited for this Currie Cup campaign."