BIG FEATURE: Sharks’ JP is crossing the bridge to become great coach

When the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV were hammered 64-0 by the Vodacom Bulls in their second Carling Currie Cup game there was a context that perhaps wasn’t understood by the critics who slammed them, but it left the coach JP Pietersen with a mission that for many would have been a bridge too far.

The image of a bridge was what the former Springbok wing, who won the Rugby World Cup under the coaching of Jake White and captaincy of John Smit, used when he spoke to his players in the inevitable fall out from a result that had many running to the record books to see if it was the biggest ever Bulls win over the Sharks.

“After that Bulls game there was obviously a lot of hurt and some hard talking but I told the guys they were on a bridge,” said Pietersen.

“I said to the guys we are crossing a bridge, are well all in or are we going to jump off? They all said ‘No, we are all in’. That period wasn’t nice, and I could easily have gone to Plum (URC coach John Plumtree) and told him I am out if I don’t have some URC players playing for me as the group is not up to it.

“But I didn’t do that. I am young in coaching, still wet around the ears, having been doing it for just four years, but what I believe from my experiences, also what I experienced as a player, is that it is important for you as a coach to remain true and honest to the players.

"I didn’t want to change what I had said to them when we first came together as a group at the start of the season, I wanted them to know I retained my belief in them and what they could do.

“On that Monday, amidst all the hurt and disappointment, I had one on ones with the guys over the standard that was needed to play for the Sharks. What kept coming back at me was them feeling that five out of 10 was good enough.

"I said no, you have to operate between six and seven as a young group, and between seven and eight is needed at URC level.

“We spoke about what it means to wear the Sharks jersey, and together with the help of captain Nick Hatton, who played a big role at that point, what was needed was taken on board.

"The following week we conceded only one try to the Cheetahs and were maybe unlucky to lose narrowly, and we showed further growth when we went to Kimberley to play Griquas.

“Griquas were in excellent form and are very difficult to play in Kimberley. A lot of people would have been expecting us to take another 60 pointer. But it was 19-12 after 72 minutes before Griquas scored a late try to make the game look less close than it really was. Then we beat Western Province and then we beat an in form Boland Kavaliers team.”

SHARKS TOOK OPPOSITE TRAJECTORY TO BULLS AFTER LOFTUS

That Boland game in Pietermaritzburg was effectively the last to be played by the group of players that Pietersen brought together at the start of the season. For in their final league game against the Airlink Pumas in Durban this past weekend, the Sharks started to go into URC mode.

The Bulls side that smashed the Sharks in Pretoria was loaded with URC players, and it wasn’t a fair contest. The Sharks players and coaches didn’t forget the arrogant post-match comments of the Bulls Currie Cup coach after that game, he accused the Sharks of not respecting the Currie Cup, and it was a motivation for them.

Ironically, the Bulls’ new URC coach Johan Ackermann stepped in the week after that Loftus game and affirmed a change of approach to align with that of the Sharks and Western Province, and until the last game, where Ackermann used it as a URC warmup, the Bulls never won again.

By contrast the Sharks XV used the Currie Cup for what it should be used for - a chance to develop and grow.

So while the Sharks XV’s season doesn’t look like a success if you look at their position on the Currie Cup log, Pietersen succeeded in the only mission that was realistic at the start of a campaign that his team went into after just 10 days of preparation - they improved as a team and at the same time repeated last year’s feat of infusing an admirable team culture.

CULTURE SHONE THROUGH IN BOLAND WIN

That culture and character was writ large at Woodburn Stadium in Pietermaritzburg when the young Sharks players dug deep after conceding the lead late in the game to Boland and fought their way from deep in their own half after the hooter to win the game via a Siya Masuku penalty.

“If you look at how we progressed then I think we can feel satisfied with how it went. That Boland game was the last game that team will play together as from this week we will see a mix and match with URC players as we start preparing for the new season,” said Pietersen.

“As a coach you need to lead, you have to decide how you will get best from the group. I was challenging the players the whole time. I was always very aware that many of them were not long out of high school, where they would usually have been winners, and would not be used to losing.

"So how they reacted to defeat was going to be part of their learning experience, and the challenge was to bounce back. I challenged them to do that.

“Nick was driving it from the inside. Throughout the season the idea was that when the campaign is finished we have got to be different from when we started. Every Monday was tackled with a positive mindset, even if sometimes there were hard words spoken. There was always energy, heart and the players were always challenging each other at training.”

The Sharks’ slow start to the competition was because the players were given three weeks off at the end of the regular season, meaning after the Sharks URC side lost to the Bulls in the URC semifinal at Loftus, and then they had two weeks of preparation.

“It was more like 10 days and much of that was a period of testing. There were only a few days where we focused on game specifics and we started out against Lions and Bulls sides who were loaded with URC players. The smaller unions have all done really well in the Currie Cup, but you must remember that they would have had cohesion we wouldn’t have had as they play in the SA Cup before they play in the Currie Cup.

“That was what I had to constantly remind my younger players - they are not better than you, they have just played together more often. And as the season progressed you saw that balance out.”

MUCH YOUNGER TEAM THIS YEAR

The Sharks’ approach was very different this season to last year, when they also didn’t use many URC players but made more liberal use of players you could consider the next cab off the rank. This season’s team, as Pietersen explains, was much younger in the Currie Cup.

“We went way younger this time around and also played some club players. Last year the big difference was experience. We had in flyhalf Lionel Cronje a player who was around a long time and played for every union, we had Reniel Hugo at lock, hooker Dan Jooste had been around the block a few times, and we also had Murray Koster in the beginning.

“We had Yaw (Penxe) in the back field so we had a mix of experience and youngsters and it was spread out nicely. This year we didn’t have those leaders, we just had Nick (Hatton), with the other guys all developing as leaders.

"They knew what to say, but were still learning and in a development phase. You need a mixed bag of experience and youth for the youngsters to learn, and for instance last year Jurenzo Julius, who is a freaky talent, was helped by Lionel.”

The Sharks didn’t win the Currie Cup this year, but what is similar to last season is the way the team became incrementally better each game - which is a sure sign of good coaching. Had the Currie Cup league phase been contested over a double round, there might have been a similar outcome. Last season the Sharks lost the first three games and then didn’t lose again.

CHANGES ARE NEEDED TO FORMAT AND TIMING

Given that the Sharks see the Currie Cup as a vehicle to blood youngsters, Pietersen would ideally like to see the competition played over two rounds, or for the Sharks XV to play in the SA Cup during the season, parallel to the URC. For it is then when the players need game time.

“The youngsters are playing in a very tough environment, because they hardly play during the URC season but then because of logistical challenges they are suddenly required to jump in at Investec Champions Cup level.

"Someone like Hakeem Kunene suddenly found himself facing the might of Bordeaux last season, in Bordeaux, which was one heck of a jump to have to make. We end up blooding guys in the Champions Cup and that is very tough on the kids.

“This above my salary grade and something for SA Rugby to sort out, but while the URC is on we should have something running parallel to it like the old Vodacom Cup used to with Super Rugby. Or we should play in the SA Cup. It should be played at the same time as the URC, not out of season.

“These kids need rugby, and it takes time for youngsters to come through and get into the groove. Look at (flyhalf) Jean Smith. He played his best game for us against Boland, but it took a while for him to find his feet. You need to give the players 10 games at least. We need to avoid a situation where someone like Hakeem doesn’t play any games and then suddenly he’s playing against the Leicester Tigers or Bordeaux.”

Yet for all of that, Pietersen believes the shortened competition did still give a glimpse of what the Sharks have for the future.

“Nick Hatton stood out again by far, both as a leader and a player. Matt Ramao, the flanker, is the silent assassin. Vusi Moyo, the flyhalf, is another Junior Bok, and you can see see his talent. Ceano Everson, the No 9, was really good when he started playing for us, Jean Smith excelled in his last game, Albie Bester is just 20 but showed signs he can physically stand up as an inside centre. Jaco Williams is exciting, we just have to decide whether he is a wing or a fullback.”

JP LEARNED FROM CROSS SECTION OF COACHING STYLES

Pietersen has a special empathy and understanding for young players that has been informed by his own experiences as a player. He was blooded very young, he was just 19 when he first started playing under Dick Muir at the Sharks, and he says it was quite a contrast between Muir’s “loving style” with his players and the more hard-nosed pragmatic approach of Jake White at the Springboks.

“I was very young when I first played for the Boks. You know how Jake is. We were under the pump in 2006 and I was just a junior. There was myself and Ruan (Pienaar) and Bismarck (du Plessis) with all the men like Victor (Matfield) and Schalk (Burger).

"There was no time to moan, I often think about that. There was love but the main thing was the main thing, we had to win, but I was still just a youngster. Like a lot of the guys we are blooding now. I think I operated a lot on fear so I am very aware of that when I coach youngsters.

“At the Sharks we had Dick who was always giving you love, encouraging you to play your own game, to enjoy yourself, whereas Jake was completely the other way. You had to think about what could go wrong. With Dick it was more a case of ‘if they score six tries we will just have to score seven’.

“I played under a lot of coaches and I learned a bit from all of them. I had Dicky, I had Jake, I had Peter de Villiers, Heyneke Meyer. I also had Robbie Deans in Japan, Richard Cockerill, who was a really hard taskmaster, and (former All Black centre) Aaron Mauger. So it was a broad learning, and all of them were different.

“Sometimes I didn’t understand as a player what was going on but I always reflected and then learnt. You need if you are going to become a coach to process all of that nicely into a model that is best for you.”