Still Sharpe enough to spoil Bok's milestone
Still Sharpe enough to spoil Bok's milestone
Greg Growden
August 28, 2010
http://images.smh.com.au/2010/08/27/...arpe-420x0.jpg Nathan Sharpe reaches for the ball in Cape Town during a Wallabies training session this week. Photo: Getty Images
A 2008 wake-up call proved a blessing in disguise for the second-rower, writes Greg Growden in Pretoria.
Everyone needs a jolt now and then. Nathan Sharpe received his two years ago, and it transformed his international career.
On Saturday night, the Wallabies' most experienced player will attempt to dampen the celebrations surrounding his opponent - Springboks second-rower Victor Matfield - who, on his home territory of Loftus Versfeld, will be running out for his 100th Test. Sharpe's aim is not only to undermine Matfield and the rest of the Springboks, but to provide the leadership required to make the Wallabies a viable Tri Nations and World Cup force again.
That Sharpe is in a position to exert his influence on such a high-profile match is noteworthy given that, not so long ago, he was on the outer. Shortly after Robbie Deans took over as Wallabies coach in 2008, Sharpe was a casualty of cruising along for a little too long. He was cut from the Tri Nations squad, and he took it hard.
A regular gig had been snatched away from him, and that devastated Sharpe for a time. However, to his credit, the 32-year-old took the hint, worked on his overall game and attitude, and within a few weeks was back in the squad - highly motivated. Since then, he has been a standout. This season, he might not have appreciated it at the time, but Sharpe believes the 2008 demotion was the stimulation he needed to revive his career.
''I was really shitty for a day or so because I thought I had been playing OK up to that point, and I didn't really see it coming,'' Sharpe said yesterday. ''It's like anything, when you don't see something coming, you're not prepared for it.
''On reflection, it was good for me. At that time, I spoke to a couple of people who had been influential in my life, and they very quickly pointed out that there were two ways you can go with that. It required working out what I wanted to achieve in my rugby. If I wanted to carry on and remain part of the international rugby scene, it just revolved around working hard and waiting for that opportunity.
''Through circumstances, that opportunity came reasonably quickly for me, but the message from that worked and translated into something several years down the track.''
The hunger has returned, and Sharpe wants to finish off his career posing beside some important prizes. In his first Test season in 2002, he enjoyed Bledisloe Cup success. But he has never touched the Tri Nations trophy and has been part of two failed World Cup campaigns.
''I want to win some serious stuff with the Wallabies,'' he said. ''That's really important for me. In the period leading up to the World Cup, that is my driving factor. I've come close quite a few years, with the last game of the year being for the Tri Nations or Bledisloe Cup, and we've just come short. I'd really like to be involved in winning those.
''The frustrating thing is that with the Wallabies we haven't really had a period when we've continued to rise. We've started to rise and then dropped off, for whatever reason. One of the positive things though is that lately we have been able to create a lot of depth, and that is going to augur well. But at the same time the World Cup is not the be-all and end-all. ''
Sharpe knows time is running out. He is expected to retire from Test rugby after next year's World Cup.
''Now it becomes a situation where you start thinking whether you might not win a World Cup or a Bledisloe Cup, and you want to do something about that,'' he said. ''Those things become really important, and realistically there's only one year left for me to do that.''
All the focus this week in South Africa has been on Matfield and his milestone, but Sharpe believes the Wallabies can turn the hype in their favour. The Springboks were unable to turn the emotional wave surrounding John Smit's 100th Test last weekend into a drought-breaking victory over the All Blacks, and the Wallabies are hopeful of again capitalising on a South African side short of conditioning.
''It is going to be an emotional day, and it's actually bloody exciting. They're reeling from a series of heavy losses, and John Smit didn't get the fairytale last week when he played his 100th. So it's all set up with Victor playing his 100th at Loftus. For us, it is a matter of looking at our last two Tests against New Zealand and wanting to atone for that. There's plenty of motivations this weekend for us as well.''
Sharpe said Matfield was such a threatening opponent because he is a genuine team man and ''backs the guys around him''. The pair have waged their personal duel over 15 Tests, of which Matfield has emerged the victor on eight occasions.
''He's generally got five good jumpers in his team, and he's worked out a system where he has confidence that, somewhere in the line-up, if the speed and timing is right, he's going to have space to do what he wants to do. That's a really impressive trait. Their lineouts generally doesn't change a great deal from week to week or year to year, and that's a hard thing to do.
''Generally, when a team gets an idea how to defend a lineout, that lineout can become obsolete. But the way he runs it, it hasn't been. He and Fourie du Preez, when he's fit, are the guys who run that team - tactically and technically.''
But Sharpe believes he is capable of producing a Matfield mauling.
''I feel that I'm playing well. When I didn't make it, I realised what I wanted to do, and you suddenly comprehend you're only ever a game away of never again being able to win with your country. I think about that before every game I play. It's the same with the Force. I feel a big responsibility that if I don't play well, I'm badly letting down the guys around me.''
The jolt has certainly worked.
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