Africa-Press – South-Africa. Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell has laid out the ground of his work, saying one of his competencies will be finalising team selection.
Powell, who was the long-time head coach of the men’s national Sevens team before being unveiled as the Sharks’ director of rugby in February, made his mark by selecting a strong side for Saturday’s clash against Ulster at Kings Park.
Powell said he’ll pick teams in consultation with United Rugby Championship coach Sean Everitt and will front up for media duties.
“It will always be in consultation with the coaches as they’ve worked with the players longer than I have,” Powell said.
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“Between Sean and I, we’ll select the team while consulting the other coaches, but the final decision will lie with me.
“I will handle most of the media obligations.”
Powell, who has moved from a stable and winning culture at the Blitzboks to a constantly evolving and underachieving one at the Sharks, said he understood the task that lies ahead of him.
The Sharks, despite the wealth of talent, were quarterfinalists in last season’s tournament and have started this season on a patchy, but winning note.
Powell said his job will also entail looking after the Sharks academy to ensure that they have development continuity.
“It’s all about building the brand and the team again,” Powell said.
“We can only take a team out there and build a brand if the team is successful. The focus will be on getting success on the field.
“There are short and term goals in terms of looking after the academy and see how we can change things there and see how our juniors come through and make it all the way.
“The academy will definitely be one of our core focuses, along with the coaches and the structures.
“It won’t be a one-man show as I’ll get inputs from everyone. It’s going to be a combined effort from everyone to get the Sharks to be a recognisable brand.”
The continuity theme also stretched to the defensive department, which Powell said has improved significantly.
The Sharks were poor in this department in the first three games, but looked markedly better when they beat the Glasgow Warriors last week.
Powell said regular changes to the defence coaching department affected the team’s structure in that facet.
“The big focus going into this season was continuity from a coaching and playing perspective,” Powell said.
“That’s something we’ve lacked in the past few years. We’ve had three defensive coaches in the past 12 months and sometimes, they bring different philosophies.
“The way Warren Whiteley is coaching defence is different to how John McFarland coached it, so continuity was key.
“We’re starting to pull in the right direction and I hope we can build on the foundation we’ve laid in the past few games.
“There are areas that we can improve in and we identify and get better at those each week. We just need to get everybody on the same page.”
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