so the sharks have started drafting in their youth and from my inside info the academy hasnt been a happy place...but I think there are moves being made to correct this...and I like smits logic in this. The Sharks have awarded under 19 contracts for next year to 12 promising schoolboys from around the country, three of whom played for SA Schools in 2014. Speaking to Sharksworld, CEO John Smit admitted that the Sharks’ model in terms of junior recruitment was quite different to that of the Bulls and Western Province, who regularly contract 30 or more players at under 19 level in a given year. “Our model is quite different,” Smit say, “since we’ve historically never been a union that is massively concerned with under 19 and under 21 Currie Cup trophies. We will contract on average between 8 and 12 players a year, whereas the Bulls will try to take 40 – to get in as many under 19 and under 21 players as they can. The reality for us in our environment, which we try to make far more ‘touch and feel’ (like for instance where Bismarck will actually spend time with the under 19 guys), we can’t have 60-70 under 21 players and manage them properly or give them what they need. “We feel that, in order to keep an 18, 19 or 20 year-old guy happy, you really need to show him some progression. I think it’s impossible to keep 40 18-year-olds happy for 2-3 years because there are only 15 that can play and that’s why the market is flooded with those sort of 21-year-old players who have moved on from the likes of the Bulls and are disgruntled. It’s important for us to pick wisely and then back those guys we get and watch them come through. Last year we did pretty well, with two of our under 19s already playing Currie Cup rugby this year.” So who do we have coming in 2015? Nearly half of the contracted players attended school in the province, with two of them already no strangers to the set up. Fullback Chris Lines, from Kearsney, enjoyed a fair bit of under 19 rugby this year despite still being at school and he will add huge experience to an otherwise young backline in 2015. Joining him in the back three is Glenwood’s Morne Joubert, who also made his under 19 debut this year, which unfortunately only lasted half a game before a hamstring injury struck. Joubert, also a fullback, played for SA Schools this year and is a rare talent; the chances are Lines will need to move to the wing to accommodate him. KZN Craven Week flyhalf Tristan Tedder, also from Kearsney, is also in the mix, as are a pair of strong props from Northwood, Ngoni Chidoma and Kabelo Motloung. Chidoma played for SA Schools and the KZN Craven Week side, while Motloung made the KZN Academy side in 2014. From outside the province, the Sharks welcome hooker Erich Kankowksi (from Piketberg in the Boland) who is apparently some sort of relative of the more famous Ryan. From the same school comes 1.98m lock Christie van der Merwe, who played for Boland at Craven Week, while another lock Rikus Zwart is 1.97m tall and hails form Noordkaap in Kimberley. Zwart rates Willem Alberts as his hero and is also a fine cricketer. From Hentie Cilliers in Virginia (the same school that gave us Jean Deysel) we welcome goal-kicking scrumhalf Jaywinn Juries, while 97kg wing Sbusiso “Lomu” Nkosi attended Jeppe in Johannesburg and played Craven Week for the Lions. The final pair that will come in are both centres; Paarl Gim’s Wayno Visagie and Middelburg’s Barend Smit. Smit played for the SA Schools side at both centre and fullback this year and captained them against Wales.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 11:38:48 +0000
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