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
wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments