Sharks must rule breakdowns

About a decade ago there was a lot more fun in the print media before games between the Stormers and the Sharks because of characters who were not shy to speak their minds – Robbie Kempson and Corné Krige regularly described the Sharks as unsophisticated street-fighters while Mark Andrews, possibly the most quintessentially tough Sharks lock ever, reckoned the Capetonians were in fact powder-puff pansies, even if his tongue was half in his cheek.

All parties were probably right to a degree over a period when Durban and Cape Town dominated South African rugby in the years straddling the new Millennium, but in May 2012 it is the Stormers holding the aces in Super Rugby, although old warhorse Andrews reckons he has the formula to tame the men from the Cape.

“When I watch the Stormers, I am reminded of the All Blacks in that they are hard to beat because they spend the game on the front foot, whether it is chasing kicks, getting over the advantage line through their backs, or the forwards taking the ball up – and it is very hard to beat a side that is seldom on the back foot,” the 77-cap Springbok forward said.

He also amassed 162 caps for the Sharks, a good number of them as captain.

Andrews says the Sharks have got to admit to themselves before this crucial match, “yes, we got the formula spot-on against the Cheetahs in keeping them on the back foot, eliminating threats like Heinrich Brussow, but we must also not get carried away because the Cheetahs looked a bit tired, their lack of depth is counting against them at this late stage of the season”.

Primarily, Andrews is tasking the Sharks forwards with ruling the breakdowns on Saturday, as they did in Bloemfontein, because when the Cape side have their play- makers running on to the ball, half-backs Dewald Duvenage and Peter Grant are masters of the aerial hoist for chasers Bryan Habana, Joe Pietersen and Gio Aplon.

“The Sharks can win this game if they dominate the breakdown,” Andrews continues.

“It was an area they did not always get right earlier in their campaign, and they need to get it spot-on against the Stormers so that Grant gets bad ball and then his kicks cannot be as effective.”

But forcing the Stormers on to the back foot is not just about the forwards, he adds.

“The backs have to play the ball in front of the forwards by getting over the advantage line, so the forwards can run good lines.

Giant

“And on defence, you can put the opposition on the back foot by tackling them backwards. The Sharks backs did this against the Cheetahs, nullifying a very good ball carrier in Andries Strauss,” Andrews pointed out.

Andrews, a lineout specialist in his day, says it goes without saying that the Sharks need to limit lineouts to avoid the influence of Stormers giant Andries Bekker.

“In general, I have been encouraged by what I have seen over the last three weeks,” says Andrews, who is in the stands with his kids at every Sharks match at Kings Park. “The guys had been inconsistent until they got back from tour and, after losing a very tight game against the Chiefs, they have toughed it out to get into form.

“The Sharks are timing their run well but if they don’t get the Stormers on the back foot, that run could end,” he warned.