Durban - Former Springbok Robert du Preez who has joined the Sharks as an assistant coach for their Super Rugby campaign, should bring new energy to the team, Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold said on Tuesday.
Robert du Preez is no stranger to Sharks rugby, having been a key member during the successes of the famous 'Team of the 90s' and he not only brings new ideas and experience, but the passion for the team, having represented The Sharks in 63 matches between 1992 and 1998 - during which three Currie Cup titles were won.
“Having Robert du Preez with us in the coaching staff is fantastic,” said Gold.
“He brings a good edge, unbelievable knowledge, great attention to detail, fantastic ideas on attack as well, he's really passionate about attack and I really like his work ethic. He's a no-nonsense guy and everyone knows where they stand. So it's exciting.
“And he's a Shark, through and through - he's played here, won trophies here and he's excited to be home; it's been brilliant to have him.”
Defence coach Omar Mouneimne who has exposure at provincial as well as international level comes with a great deal of experience, and Gold is pleased to have him at the Sharks.
“He has a good couple of years under the belt, he's travelled, was Nick Mallet's defensive coach with Italy for four years.
“I worked with him in 2007 and 2008 when Rassie Erasmus brought him in to the Stormers and those are two fine coaches who put faith in him.
“He is a particularly passionate individual and has an attention to detail on the work that he does that is in a different league to what I've seen in this country - and that's a compliment to Omar and not an insult to anyone else - and because he has a martial arts background he brings a real element of the collision.
“That's very valuable, as is his conditioning background, so he can marry the two very well. He brings incredible energy as well. “Having Sean Everitt and Ryan Strudwick in the system already, with the two new guys who bring in a lot of energy is exciting for the guys. What will be different in 2016 that possibly was a factor this year is the single-mindedness the players will show in their dedication to the black and white jersey.
“Luckily there is no World Cup ahead of us so the focus is on Super Rugby and everyone is raring to go.
”Although the pre-season is a tough period of ruthlessly hard work, the players and coaching staff know that the platform they lay now can only benefit them in the next year. Not only from a point of fitness, but in making sure any areas of concern are fixed. “We will put a tremendous amount of work into what we have identified as weak points shown this year. Our defence has to improve, our attack has to improve drastically, our breakdown - I think we made improvements in the scrum, our lineout was efficient, our contesting was very good and we will continue to look to improve in areas like that.
“But all our fundamentals need to improve, we have to really, really up our physicality; we have a huge amount of work to do.
“We also have a responsibility to giving our guys the highest skill level possible and finding ways to score tries. “And attracting crowds. Our priority is to get back to winning ways.” - African News Agency (ANA)