Pat Lambie (Gallo Images)
Sibusiso Mjikeliso – Sport24
- The Sharks were in Super Rugby pole position before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, playing an attractive rugby brand.
- Head coach Sean Everitt is described as an affable and honest character who “doesn’t have a big ego.”
- Pat Lambie was part of the 2010 and 2013 Currie Cup-winning Sharks sides, and the team that made the 2012 Super Rugby final, but said this year’s crop impressed him.
Former
Springbok flyhalf Pat Lambie said he would have “absolutely loved”
playing in the current Sharks team that mesmerised opponents this year before
Super Rugby was abruptly cut
short.
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Head
coach Sean Everitt’s ensemble thrilled rugby fans from the minute they beat the
Bulls in Durban in round one to the last match before the coronavirus pandemic
intervened, a thrilling 24-14 defeat of the Stormers at Kings Park.
They
were on top of the combined standings, with three Australasian tour wins
already in the bag, and on a high-speed highway to a home playoff and
quite possibly the No 1 overall seed and they did it all playing the kind of
rugby that sends pulses racing.
Since
breaking through in 2010, Lambie was part of some amazing Sharks teams in the
last decade before his career was tragically cut short last year. The 2010 and
2013 Currie Cup teams immediately spring to mind as well as the 2012 Super
Rugby finalists that made it all the way to the death despite some incredible
odds.
This
Sharks team – which features dazzling dancers Aphelele Fassi, Makazole Mapimpi
and Lukhanyo Am working in beautiful concert with forwards Ox Nche, Hyron
Andrews and Sikhumbuzo Notshe – impressed their kicking consultant, Lambie.
“I would have absolutely loved
playing in this Sharks team,” Lambie said.
“It’s a really happy team,
it’s a winning team and they were playing some exceptional rugby. The backline
is absolutely lethal and the forwards have played out of their boots.
“Together (forwards and backs)
they’ve put in some solid performances. It seems like the players are enjoying
what the coaching staff are asking them to do and they are all buying into the
plan.
“I guess that’s why they were
successful in Super Rugby before it was cut short.”
When Everitt replaced Robert du
Preez in the coaching booth, it was like a vacuum cleaner had replaced a grubby
old broom. Everitt swept the team clean of simmering locker room unhappiness
and transformed both the game plan and the personnel.
For a long time Everitt was
overlooked for the Super Rugby job; filling in at Currie Cup level, coaching
the backs or acting whenever the Sharks were mid-crises, before getting
relegated back down to coach juniors.
Those who knew him, however,
understood that his vision for the game was equal to any of the big names
around and the 2020 season gave everyone a meaty glimpse of it.
Lambie, whose first coach at the
Sharks ranks was Everitt, said the coach’s personality endeared him to the
players he mentored.
“He’s very easy to get along
with and he likes to see the positive in things,” said Lambie.
“He’s honest and so he’s
got a good relationship with all the players. When players trust you, they want
to perform better and keep improving every week.
“Sean has the right balance
between having fun and taking things seriously. There’s a time to work and
there’s a time to play.
“He has a very good
understanding of the game and the way he presents his ideas to players makes
them believe in what he’s trying to do. Players like knowing where they stand
and knowing that the coach wants what’s best for them and for the team.
“The biggest thing, though, is
that he doesn’t have a big ego and he’s a likeable guy.”
Everitt’s effortlessly egoless
approach to managing his players has even caught the attention of players from
opposing teams, such as former Bulls flyhalf Manie Libbok, who opted to take
his talents to the East Coast.
