Africa-Press – South-Africa. Sharks flank Siya Kolisi has welcomed the addition of director of rugby Neil Powell’s voice at the Durban franchise, singling out his forthrightness as one of his distinguishing traits.
Under Powell, the Sharks have implemented a new coaching structure and have opted to separate the United Rugby Championship (URC) and Champions Cup from Currie Cup and youth rugby.
As such, Powell becomes the union’s head coaching honcho, with all coaches reporting directly to him.
“Coach Neil is amazing and very experienced in the 7s circuit and his voice means a lot because of what he’s achieved. Some of us have known him since we were 19 years old and it’s great to have him,” said Kolisi.
“He takes a lot of pressure off the coaching staff because he can manage everything off the field and make sure there are plans going forward so Sean can focus on the rugby.”
“He gets stuck in with boys during training sessions and we really enjoy having him. He’s an honest and direct man and a very understanding man as well,” Kolisi added.
Kolisi and a host of Springbok colleagues played off the bench in that impressive 40-12 win at the weekend and, for the Bok captain, the players will take on whatever mandate comes from the coaching staff.
“All we can do as players is work hard and perform each weekend because competition is tight and it takes away complacency. Coming back, we can see how the guys are performing so we have to pitch up week in and week out.
“The plan to have us play from the bench worked well. We were excited and just happy to be back and to join this group after what they did on tour and we wanted to add value.”
Add value they did as they stretched a 13-7 half-time scoreline, to put 40 past the travelling Scottish side:
The 4th placed Sharks will tackle 2nd-place Ulster this weekend. Thereafter, several players will join the Springboks for a training camp in Stellenbosch.
Following that, the Springbok squad will be named next week Friday, and once again, a good chunk of the players will be away on national duty from 30 October until the end of November.
“My mind is still with the Sharks ahead of a big game this weekend,” Kolisi commented.
“The training squad has been announced and that’s great. But when we return from national duty, we want to come back and be competitive.
“The better the unions do, the better the Springboks will do, so it’s important we do well while we’re with our clubs.”
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