Sharples has no problem staying at full-back
Charlie Sharples says he has no problems continuing at full-back for Gloucester in the club's next few games.
Sharples normally plays in the Gloucester team as a winger but has been forced into the full-back role due to injuries to Olly Morgan and Freddie Burns. He wore the number 15 shirt during Gloucester's
22-21 win over Leeds.
It is important for any player at any club to be versatile and to possess the ability to adapt to different conditions. There is now a very good chance that Sharples could compete for the full-back slot
over the rest of the season.
Sharples has been very effective at full-back and has displayed a high number of attributes, which have helped him be successful. However, there are serious questions over whether he has the physical fitness
to play at full-back long-term.
An effective switch
Although Sharples only played at full-back against Leeds because of injury, he was very effective in the role. He showed that he has no problems getting stuck into a very aggressive opposition that tried
to target him as a weak link.
He has always been a very good passer of the ball and he consistently proved this in the position against Leeds. His short and long game looks to be very good and this helped him adapt to a higher pace
full-back role.
His speed allowed him to run forward much faster than the majority of full-backs. This is because he is primarily a winger but it helped him in an attacking and defensive sense at full-back.
He said: "I still think my first choice position is on the wing, but I'd like to branch out and play a bit at full-back. I'll hopefully keep playing there until those boys come back fit."
Fitness questions
Some will argue that Sharples's performance playing at full-back against Leeds proves that he does not have the physical fitness necessary to play in the position for an extended period of time.
The main difference between a full-back and a winger is that full-backs are required to run a lot more during the 80 minutes. There were times against Leeds when Sharples was clearly struggling to keep
up with the pace of the game because the constant running was not something he was familiar with.
He added: "I had a bit of cramp. It was my first game of the season, so I probably wasn't totally match fit. That comes, but I found at 15 there was a lot more running than on the wing, so I was blowing
quite hard at some points in the game. I probably blew myself out a bit and started cramping up. That's something I'll just hope won't happen again for the rest of the season."
Betting advice
Remember this is only a temporary measure in the Gloucester team. Although Sharples was relatively successful against Leeds, he will go back to the wing as soon as a regular full-back is fit.
Be wary of backing him until this happens. This is because he will not get forward as often playing at full-back. This was demonstrated clearly during the game against Leeds and although he may enjoy the
full-back role, he's not the best that rugby has ever seen in the position.
Gloucester is a good team to back at any team because there is talent and energy all over the squad. Have a punt on the side making the top four by the end of the season. This is the minimum the club will
accept this season and there is still plenty of time to achieve this goal.
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