Time for Sharks to give American consortium return on investment against Bulls

Durban - The Sharks are in urgent need of United Rugby Championship points after two unprofitable games against the Stormers but today’s visit to the Bulls is about much more than their position on the log.

There has been much hype about the Sharks’ buy-out by an American consortium almost two years ago, and the consequent migration to Durban of key Springboks in Siya Kolisi and Bongi Mbonambi, and at some point, the New York investors are going to query the return on their investment.

That point is around about now. Until this juncture, the Sharks have had legitimate excuses for non-performance because the pandemic wreaked havoc in their ranks, and then 10 key players were away on Rugby Championship duty with the Springboks last year.

But they have been back now for a few weeks and the excuse of combinations needing to find each other is wearing thin.

In short, the Sharks need to perform today and even if they do not beat the Bulls, they need to make a statement that they are moving in the right direction.

The Sharks’ mission statement is to be the best team in Europe — this is what CEO Eduard Coetzee told the media recently — but over the last fortnight they have failed to be better than the Stormers, never mind Europe, so they really need to pull finger this afternoon at Loftus Versfeld and add some substance to their boss’ ambitious words.

Coach Sean Everitt, who surely is feeling the pressure, says his team is on track, despite drawing at home and then losing away to the Stormers.

“Last week we let ourselves down,” Everitt said. “Bongi Mbonambi has spoken to the media about us not sticking to the plan we had in place. We just didn’t execute it well enough. So, it is frustrating. We know what the team is capable of.