Sharks target tightheads

Tank Lanning takes a look at how the Sharks ended up snapping up the son of Carel du Plessis from under the noses of the talent spotters at WP …

It’s based on a piece on the Schoolboy Rugby blog that reveals the Sharks latest and youngest signings.

The report suggests that the Sharks only contract between 8 and 12 young players every year, with these players picked based on both their rugby ability and the future needs of the union.

The recruitment drive is geared towards identifying the best players, irrespective of where they live. Contracted players automatically join of the high performance elite training group at the Sharks Academy where they receive specialised training. Their contracts contain both performance and academic clauses, which means that in order to receive the full pay, players have to show commitment to both rugby and the books.

And while the talk on Keo was about Carel’s son, I quite liked the look of their tighthead prop signings … A position in which the world, and in particular, South Africa, is not at all well stocked, and it looks like the boys from Durban are trying to change that …

To be honest, I do not know a lot about these guys, and would love some more info, but below the bios as per the original article, and a classic picture of Coetzee that I found on Google …

Bart le Roux (Framesby). The 1.91m, 116kg tighthead prop was part of the unbeaten EP Craven Week team in 2012. A year before that le Roux represented the SA Academy team against France. He  is a huge unit. In terms of scrumming and  the work ethic, the Sharks really liked what they saw. Le Roux is able to get around the park and thrives on being in the thick of the action.

Stefan van Schalkwyk (Oakdale). At 1.87m and 122kg, on paper the tighthead prop’s dimensions immediately suggests he will be a handful at scrum-time but should struggle to keep up in open play. Well part of this is right, he is an asset in the scrum but for a young guy of his size, his mobility and even his hands are exceptional. He packs some good aggression as well.

Marné Coetzee (Glenwood). Coetzee made the 2011 SA Schools team playing Craven Week for the Blue Bulls while attending Waterkloof. He moved to Durban later the year after accepting a contract to play for the Sharks once his schooling was completed. This paved the way for him to compete in the 2012 ABSA under-19 Currie Cup where he left a lasting impression. The tighthead prop now finds himself in the Baby Bokke under-20 team and is still on track to realise a dream of playing at the Junior World Championships in France later this year. His success has been based on sound scrumming and his willingness to get involved in all aspects of loose play as a ballcarrier, support player, cleaner outer and defender. He also never seems to run out of energy.