Sharks to scrum down for Toti 1sts in premier division

Newly-appointed Sharks director of rugby, Jake White believes any contracted player who isn’t involved in a Super 15 match, but is fit and able to play rugby, should don his club kit and run out for his local team. Sharks players will also train in their respective club jerseys, which will hopefully attract others to the club and promote the club brand.

White and KZN rugby CEO, John Smit have spread their contracted players evenly across the club spectrum so it’s not just the historically successful clubs that will benefit from this initiative. Even though some of the players will spend little time on the field for their clubs, the impact of simply having them affiliated and available to further market those clubs, is beneficial.

Last season Toti were crowned overall first division champions and won promotion to the premier division after a hard-fought victory over Harlequins.

The potential inclusion of seven contracted Sharks players will strengthen the squad as they take on powerful teams such as national club champs College Rovers in this season’s premier division.

The seven players who will run out in Toti colours this season include Stephan Lewies (lock), who played quite often last season for the Sharks in the Currie Cup before the return of the Bok players, Monde Hadebe (hooker), who replaced the injured Bismarck du Plessis in last season’s Currie Cup, Lubabalo ‘Tera’ Mthembu (loose forward), who is part of the Sharks’ Super 15 training squad, Ryan Kankowski (eighth man), Lourens Adriaanse (prop), who transferred from Griquas and was part of the Bok squad last season and also played in the Super 15, Tyler Fisher (who plays either number 15 or 10) and Hansie Graaff (flyhalf or centre).

“These players will play club rugby if they are not involved in the Vodacom Cup for the Sharks or are returning from injury,” said Toti Rugby Club’s first team coach, Jeff Harper. “I’m not holding my breath for players like Kankowski or Adriaanse, which I don’t think we will see much of, but I think we will see a lot of the others. This will be great for local crowds. These players will train with us on a Thursday.

The local players are quite excited, even though they might find themselves dropped on match day. The inclusion of the contracted Sharks players should not particularly disrupt the squad on match day, as these guys are professional and they should slot into the positions easily.

This will mean a lot more to Toti than the bigger outfits such as Rovers. People can come down to the club and see close-hand what these contracted Sharks players are all about. It will be a big boost for local rugby and will strengthen the team.

We hope to finish in the top four or five in the premier division, so these players will go a long way to help us achieve that. It’s exciting and I look forward to it.”