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“Our preseason training started on the 23rd of November - just like The Sharks - which was a short break for the juniors who had played in the Under 21 Final, but the training went really well and conditioning-wise, we are very well-prepared,” he admits.
Everitt, who was part of the coaching staff for the 2008 successful Absa Currie Cup winning side as well as last year’s Under 21s who made it to the finals adds that his team are well-settled now ahead of the tournament start.
“Over the last two weeks we have played two warm-up games and John Plumtree has allowed some of The Sharks players to play for us in order to get game time, so it’s good to now be settled and know where we are squad-wise.”
In last week’s curtain-raiser to the Vodacom Super 14 match between The Sharks and Cheetahs, The Sharks XV played a warm-up game against their Free State counterparts and ran out fairly emphatic 27-nil victors, a performance Everitt admits to being pleased about.
“The match against Free State went really well, but we have made some changes to the way we played last year due to the way the rules are being refereed this year, so we’ll be looking to keep the ball in hand a lot more because the law seems to favour the attacking team.”
With the laws now clearing up the breakdown area to the extent where the tackler must not slow down ball or poach illegally, the attacking sides are going to get more out of this area of the game and certainly Everitt hopes to use it to his team’s advantage (like any other team).
With attacking play being rewarded much more than last year, and the defending side being penalised a lot more as the first two week’s Vodacom Super 14 stats show, teams who play attacking rugby are likely to enjoy a lot more advantage this season which is good news for anyone who embraces exciting attacking rugby.
“In the past, the teams were probably too scared to attack from inside their own half because the defending sides were getting the advantage and the attacking sides were getting penalised for holding on to the ball, but that’s changed now,” he explains, “so I think you’ll probably see a lot more counter-attacking and running from within the own half than kicking.”
Does that mean kicking won’t be as used as an attacking tactic as much as previously? “I don’t think teams will be using the kick as much,” he says. “Obviously there will be times when they need to use it, but I think it will be more on a 50-50 basis where you hope to retrieve the ball, but then, those kicks need to be very accurate.”
He is loathe to identify an overall goal for the competition, explaining that, “it’s difficult to make it our goal to win the competition because it’s difficult for the bigger Unions who have a senior team as well as a Vodacom Cup side, due to disruptions. I was chatting to the Free State guys who admitted they’re no different to us as far as disruptions are concerned.
“It certainly is a challenge for us, but what stands us in good stead is the fact that The Sharks are away for five weeks which minimises disruptions with players moving from one team to the other, and when they return to play a game, we have a bye, and the following week when they have a bye, we have a game, so as far as that is concerned, it will be better for us.”
Friday’s match against Border at The Absa Stadium Durban kicks off at 6pm with free entry to the game.
