Eben Etzebeth to take charge of Sharks ‘physical department’ in search of better form

Springboks centurion Eben Etzebeth feels the Sharks need to kick up their physicality as the team looks for ways out of their form slump.

It has been a horror season for the Sharks, despite their plethora of Springboks stars, as the Durban side have only managed one win from 11 as they sit at the basement of the United Rugby Championship table.

No excuses

At times the Sharks have had key injuries and missed their Springboks players when unavailable but, for Etzebeth, there is no room for excuses.

The veteran believes that the side is doing the right things in training but that needs to translate into the game.

“We haven’t had a good season so far. There are no excuses really. I think we just need to take a hard look at ourselves as individuals and as a collective,” he told reporters. “I do think we work hard and there are plans in place.

“But somehow we are not executing it. We really hope to rectify it for the rest of the season. We can get better in certain aspects and it’s not a player or coaching thing, it’s us as a union. Everyone just needs to step up and we need to be better.

“We as forwards, we have a big job and responsibility to step-up in the physical department. I think we haven’t been great so far in our set-pieces this year.

“As South Africans we love that battle and I just feel at the moment we are letting ourselves down and we are letting the Sharks supporters down with what we produce on match day. I think we can be a bit more physical on the field,” Etzebeth added.

“It is the first time this season that we’ve got most of our players playing. As a collective it’s probably the strongest 23 we could’ve picked so far.

“It will be a boost to have everyone back. It’s still a work in progress, we still have to put it out on the field. It’s easy to think about names coming back, but at the end of the day it’s what happens on Saturday that counts.”

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Feeling strong

Etzebeth, who just won back-to-back SA Rugby Player of the Year awards, had been sidelined after going under the knife for a niggling knee injury. The second-row has since recovered and is raring to go again.

“I’ve been struggling with my knee for quite a while. It’s been going on since even before the World Cup so I had to fix it up sometime and I think it was the perfect break,” he said.

“It was definitely the right time now and I just missed two local derbies. It already feels better than before the op [operation] so that’s a positive.”

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