Jeremy Ward ready to ignite Sharks' Super Rugby campaign
Thursday 23 February 2017 11:25, UK
The Sharks get their Super Rugby campaign underway against the Reds in Brisbane on Friday, and in their matchday squad is one of the rising stars of the South African game.
Named on the bench is Jeremy Ward, who captained South Africa in the Under 20 Championship last year, with the Junior Boks making it to the semi-finals where they were beaten 39-17 by eventual champions England.
Ward has already tasted Super Rugby with the Kings, but features for the Sharks this weekend for the first time, and the 21-year-old is excited to finally get onto the pitch after all the hard work in the off-season.
"It was a long pre-season this year," Ward told Sky Sports. "We had seven weeks in November and December which is two weeks longer than any other pre-season that the Sharks have ever had, so it was a lot of hard work and effort from everyone."
The Sharks lost plenty of experience at the end of last year, with JP Pietersen and Willie le Roux taking up contracts in the Premiership, and Marcell Coetzee heading to Ulster.
But Ward feels the Durban-based franchise will benefit from the injection of youth coming in to replace those players, and says there is still a wealth of older heads to support skipper Patrick Lambie in this year's campaign.
"With Pat as captain and surrounded by really good leaders and senior guys, as well as the young guys coming through, the potential is there to build a good side and go quite far in the competition," he said.
"There is quite a lot of pressure on us to almost start setting things right and bring back the good old days of South African rugby."
"Individually we want to be the best we can, but we know that if we want to go far in this competition we all have to pull together and become a close-knit unit, and that's what we've been working on."
The midfielder says he immediately benefited from leaning on the more experienced players after joining the Sharks.
"They take you under their wing straight away - every day I learn something new," he added. "Whether it's Pat Lambie, Keegan Daniel, Beast Mtawarira or Lwazi Mvovo, they all teach me something different every day.
"It's Robert du Preez's first season at the helm as head coach and he's already making sure that we enjoy every minute. Especially us youngsters, he puts a lot of time in emphasising how we have the opportunity to learn and grow.
"He spends a lot of one-on-one time helping us and feeding us knowledge.
"To be in this environment and learning from them is quite special and I'm really enjoying it - hopefully I can make the most of that."
Off the field, the centre has been impressed by the ethos of his new club.
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"There is an incredible bond between the players and the fans here in Durban, and that's what makes the Sharks so special; there's a connection," Ward said.
"One of our main values here is community - we've decided this year that we are going to put a lot of emphasis on becoming closer to the fans and hopefully that can plays a part in filling up the stadium and bringing the Sharks back to where they belong."
The Springboks experienced a low ebb in 2016, losing to Italy at the end of a forgettable year for Allister Coetzee's side.
There were whispers that the once-great rugby nation was falling by the wayside, but Ward believes it to be a temporary setback for the two-time World Cup winners, and says the responsibility lies with the players to rectify results at every level in the country.
"There is quite a lot of pressure on us to almost start setting things right and bring back the good old days of South African rugby," he said.
"If you look at the way the country has responded, there is a lot more effort and focus put on the youngsters and the benefit of South African rugby after the year we had last year.
"The focus is on rebuilding the Springbok brand and that's my goal, to be part of a Springbok brand that rebuilds and gets the No 1 spot back."
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Ward says he is aware of the spotlight on rugby stars in the country, but is embracing the challenge of proving himself on the big stage.
"You do feel the pressure because there is a lot of expectation on rugby players in South Africa, especially the young players coming through in this day and age," he said.
"Attitude plays a huge part. You have to be ready and your mind has to be in the right place if you want to be part of the process of going forward.
"Pressure can go two ways, if you handle it right it can work in your favour."
