The Sharks figured out how to beat New Zealand teams
Have the Sharks found a winning recipe against New Zealand sides?
The Sharks completed their third win from four games against Kiwi teams, and if not for a last-gasp 82nd-minute try by Ngani Laumape against the Hurricanes, they would be four from four. All the more puzzling is they have struggled against South African opposition with only one win from four games, and one draw and two losses against Australian teams.
It is surprising, to say the least, that a team can have success against the dominant New Zealand conference and struggle against weaker opposition. So what are the Sharks doing?
The Sharks have built a game plan around being both ultra conservative and hyper-aggressive at the same time. They are the team that kicks out-of-hand the most but at the same time are the team that offloads the most.
For the Sharks, it’s all about getting in the right areas of the field before playing an unpredictable game.
Du Preez and Game Management
The return of flyhalf Robert Du Preez to Durban has given the Sharks a super leg to play behind. Not only does he have a monster boot he is deadly accurate off the tee, kicking at a competition leading 88% success rate making him the highest point-scorer in the competition.
Du Preez dictates where the Sharks will play the game and more often than not, he will hoof it downtown as quickly as possible. They have an exit strategy that extends to their own forty, sometimes halfway. Playing from the safety of the opposition half is the number one priority.
This low-risk play limits the ability of Sharks to string together high numbers of phases – they have the third lowest count of seven-plus phases. As a result, they don’t have much resemblance of a pattern in their game. The structures are often messy and player positioning is all over the place but it doesn’t matter – Du Preez can pull the trigger and drive the ball downfield releasing pressure.
Shark Attack – Offload-a-palooza
Despite having very little structure and playing a territory-focused game, the Sharks attacking production is quite surprising. They rank sixth in tries scored and fifth in line breaks despite ranking first in penalty shots at goal.
Where most New Zealand teams have abandoned shooting for goal in favour of kicking for the corner, the Sharks accumulate points by knocking over three’s with the sharpshooter Du Preez at every opportunity.
This has been the same failed tactic that Australian teams continue to pursue against New Zealand teams only to be trounced by an avalanche of points at the other end. However, there is one thing the Sharks do exceptionally well that Australian teams don’t – offload.
The Sharks are by far and away the biggest offloaders in the competition – registering 170 so far with the next best being 147. This isn’t directly correlated with winning but does show they are prepared to take risks with the ball in hand. In contrast, just one Australian side has over 100 offloads (the Waratahs), with all three other Aussie sides ranking in the bottom four with less than 90.
Offloading requires trust, foresight, anticipation, and skill. When executed it is almost impossible to defend and often results in front-foot ball at worst and a line break and five points at best. The Sharks have thrown conventional structures out in favour of skill-based play around offloading.
Once they obtain possession in the opposition half, they play a version of 1-3-3-1 that often looks like an under-9s game but very quickly things open up and they create scoring opportunities.
The team has three of the top fifteen offloaders in the competition, including the number one, openside flanker Jean-Luc Du Preez, who has an astounding 31 offloads.
The Sharks big loosies are hard to tackle, but they are very adept at getting the ball away to a support runner. They often win the contact, drag defenders in and create space by getting the ball away. This can look static, occurring multiple times in short space in sporadic nature before the cracks become holes, and all of sudden someone is streaking away.
If they win a penalty they’ll take three points, if not they commit to offloading until they hit pay dirt with a try. They have put together some beautiful passages of play this season that rival that of New Zealand sides. This high-risk unpredictable play does result in a high error rate, but played at the right end of the field doesn’t hurt the Sharks as much.
They balance conservativeness in their own half with an aggressive offloading attack in the opposition half and it seems to be working against New Zealand sides – helping neutralise their own attacking firepower. Where Australian coaches are afraid to take risks, the Sharks are taking an extraordinary amount of them.
Growing pains
The team has a young squad that has issues elsewhere.
At set piece, the team has been inconsistent – both at the scrum and lineout, despite having the Beast in the front row and one of the best jumpers in Super Rugby in Ruan Botha. The young backs also make a number of unforced errors that would cause a coach to tear his hair out.
These are the things that hold the team back and why they can’t achieve consistent results. Head coach Rob Du Preez (senior) spoke after the Chiefs game about how this team is learning and growing each week, but put the ceiling very high.
“This is a great team, this is a team that’s got the makings of winning a championship, whether it’s this year or next year it’s going to come,” he said.
If they can retain the core group of this team and continue to improve stability in the problem areas, the Sharks will be a surprising threat to New Zealand dominance and could be South Africa’s next great team.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments