Former Sharks centurion calls for a ‘complete clean-out of the coaching staff’
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Former Sharks winger Tony Watson, who made over 140 appearances on the wing for Natal between 1985 and 1993, has written a scathing open letter to his former team’s board following a poor run of results.
In the letter published on IOL, Watson, who played a record-breaking 128 game consectutively for the Sharks, wrote that there has been a lack of leadership at the Sharks, and called for a ‘complete clean-out of the coaching staff’.
“When Robert du Preez was appointed coach, I asked Teich whether he believed that prospective sponsors and business partners would share his vision for the Sharks with Robert as the head coach?
‘Clearly he and the board believed so, and the Du Preez coaching era was born! Well, for almost two seasons, we have witnessed a Sharks team in free fall, with no clearly defined pattern of play.
‘It is a team lacking in leadership both on and off the field; a team capable of producing brief spells of mesmerising rugby, but also a team that can get beaten by 50 points in our own back garden.’
Watson added that Du Preez has created a culture of fear in the team and used the treatment if Curwin Bosch to support his statement.
“It is a team playing with fear – that’s how I sum up the Sharks. Let me support this statement. Two years ago, Curwin Bosch missed a crucial tackle in the Currie Cup final, and was subsequently and most conveniently banished to the bench.
“Yet us Sharks fans are subjected every week to missed tackles by the incumbent flyhalf, and opposition coaches target this channel with astounding success!
“In a pre-season meeting attended by Gary Teichmann, Robert du Preez and Dick Muir to discuss the importance of a selection committee, Robert made it very clear that he was in the fortunate position that his three sons picked themselves, and therefore there would be no controversy.
“Instead, for two years we have been starved of the mercurial talent of Curwin Bosch, and the team has had to endure a selection policy that must surely create nasty undercurrents.
Watson went on to state that the Durban-based franchised needed a fresh start and a complete clean-out of the coaching staff and suggested that the likes of Ian McIntosh, Dick Muir, Pat Lambie and Sean Everitt be brought in on an interim basis.
