'Disciplined' Sharks to right the wrongs
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:15
Right the wrongs: Veteran Sharks prop Deon Carstens
Having done some serious introspection, the Sharks have accepted that a lack of discipline and a high error count is what has cost them dearly this season.
Now, with the Brumbies lying in wait in Canberra on Saturday and still looking for their first win of the season, the Sharks have promised to clean up their act.
Coach John Plumtree, who said he was "very annoyed" with their discipline, has issued a stern warning to his charges, threatening to 'red card' any player that is guilty of a lack of discipline.
"I told the guys that the next player to get a yellow card, gets a red card from me," a forthright Plumtree told the media, adding that he "read the riot act" to the team in their post-match analysis.
And with those words still ringing in their ears, the players have taken it upon themselves to "right the wrongs" that have bedevilled their campaign this season.
Veteran prop Deon Carstens said the senior players need to take the lead.
"We get into situations where three of our senior players make mistakes and then we concede points from that," Carstens told rugby365.com, when asked how the talented Durban-based outfit will turn their season around.
"We are not pointing fingers at anybody or individuals, it is a collective thing.
"However, we are all professional players and we know what is expected of us."
The 30-year-old prop, with nine Springbok Test caps to his credit, said it would be understandable if the team loses because they are playing badly.
"However, we are losing through our own errors and that is the most frustrating aspect.
"We have too look at ourselves and fix it."
He said one of the few players who has been producing acceptable standards this season is Springbok No.8 Ryan Kankowski, who Carstens said is playing "brilliant rugby"
"The rest of us are all that one step off the pace," he told rugby365.com, adding: "If we can eliminate the errors, the penalties and the yellow cards, we will make life a lot easier for ourselves."
He is confident they can turn it around against the Brumbies this week - after having suffered defeats against the Chiefs (18-19), Cheetahs (20-25), Crusaders (6-35) and Waratahs (21-25).
"We have showed some improvement last weekend, after a very poor start to the season," Carstens said.
"There are some issues that are hampering us, our discipline and our play at the breakdown.
"If we can fix those areas, eliminate the mistakes, then we'll show a marked improvement."
Carstens dismissed the notion that the team is a disjointed outfit.
"The team spirit is as good as it has always been, we always enjoy our tours, but we need a win now.
"Last week we had a great opportunity to win the game, the bounce just didn't come our way and if you look at the Chiefs game we took the lead just before the end and then conceded a penalty."
He said they are certainly not down in the dumps and remain confident that they will be able to right the ship.
"We will continue to work and if we can get two wins from our remaining three games on tour it won't be that bad - that will certainly put us back in contention."
Carstens said 10 points from their next three games - against the Brumbies, Highlanders and Hurricanes - will put them on a sound footing before they return to South Africa for their last six games.
"If we get 10 points, then we can build from there and have a crack at a place in the play-offs.
"We all know that we have a good team, we just haven't managed to find any rhythm."
By Jan de Koning