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Robert's Sale experience will benefit Sharks

rugby20 February 2019 07:46| © Cycle Lab
By:JJ Harmse
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Robert du Preez © Gallo Images

There were probably many raised eyebrows when it was announced last November that Cell C Sharks flyhalf Robert du Preez would be sojourning in England during the off-season but perhaps there needn’t have been.

While it is understandable that there should be fears that playing all-year-round rugby will make a player stale, and doing it continuously certainly wouldn’t be advisable from a healthy and rugby longevity perspective, the 25-year-old looks set to prove the worthiness of his stint overseas by being a better, more complete and more mature player in the coming Vodacom Super Rugby season.

Du Preez played for Sale Sharks and while he says that the rugby in the English Premiership might be a little slower than Super Rugby, he felt he returned with a lot of information and perspective that can be employed to the betterment of the Durban based Sharks.

“If it was up to me I would encourage all players to go out and experience playing overseas for a bit because it can only improve you,” said Du Preez when looking ahead to Saturday’s first home clash with the Blues at Jonnson King’s Park.

“I really enjoyed it. I am the kind of guy who is always keen to experience new things. It broadens horizons and maybe sometimes it is just good to hear a different voice. It may be the same message, but because it is a different voice you may pick it up differently.

“The change was really good for me. Even though I played during the off-season and haven’t really had a break, I feel like I have returned home refreshed. I learnt a lot about the way they play (in the northern hemisphere), about attacking abilities and different ways to unpick opposing defences. The rugby over there is a little slower than Super Rugby because the defensive systems are so good, but you are exposed to quality rugby and I learned a lot. I will now try and apply what I learned over there when I play here.”

Last year Du Preez announced himself as a Springbok contender when the Sharks outplayed the Blues at Eden Park, and on Saturday he will meet up again with the Blues on home turf. He reckons playing Kiwi teams always brings out the best in the Sharks, but feels that there needs to be a strong drive from the team to lose the Sharks’ longstanding habit of targeting certain games for big efforts and being flat in others.

“Sometimes the opposition just brings out the best in you, it is not because you have a specific plan," he said.

"We just knew the clashes with the Kiwis were big games. But we have got to change that mindset. There are no easy games this year and we need to build on last season’s performances. There have been some new signings for the Blues and they are going to be tough opponents.”

The probable presence of All Black centres Sonny Bill Williams and Ma’a Nonu, who has returned to New Zealand after playing overseas for a few years, in the Blues line-up has made it easy to pinpoint where the biggest threat to the Sharks may lie. But the Sharks also have two international centres in their midfield in the form of Andre Esterhuizen and Lukhanyo Am, and it illustrates Du Preez’s point that the Sharks should focus on themselves.

“I’ve never played against him but we know Ma’a Nonu is a very experienced campaigner who still has a lot of rugby in him so we we are looking forward to the prospect,” said the flyhalf.

“But we have a good midfield too, and we need to think about ourselves and what we can do. We have more than enough in our own arsenal to be ready for whatever they throw at us. When you come up against teams with big names you have got to worry about yourself and not too much on them. This week we just need to focus on ourselves and our processes.”

The Sharks did that well after the Sunwolves hit them quite hard and briefly went ahead in the early part of last week’s opening Super Rugby game in Singapore.

“They hit us hard in the first couple of minutes and some of the guys were blowing. They brought good linespeed. But after they scored their early try we settled our nerves and said ‘Boys, we have a plan, let’s stick to it’. After that we played some exciting rugby but some really brutal rugby too. The forwards really set it up for us so a lot of credit must go to them.”

Du Preez himself produced a clinical performance at the back, and apart from a good night kicking from the tee, his game management played a big role in ensuring that the Sharks played the game in the area of the field they wanted to.

“I tend to be tough on myself and like to improve in all areas. I just did my job out there. I wasn’t content but I wasn’t upset about my performance either,” was Du Preez’s self-effacing summation of his first full day at the office (in southern hemisphere rugby) in 2019.

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