Sharks plan to hog ball in Bloem

THE SHARKS will be placing a priority on ensuring that bad old habits don’t come back to haunt them during this Saturday’s all-important Currie Cup clash against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

At stages of this season, the Durban side has been guilty of conceding costly turnovers, and Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford said they certainly can’t afford to do that against the Cheetahs.

“This weekend it will be pretty much about maximising opportunities and keeping possession because the Cheetahs love turnover ball and can hurt you with it. They’re a bit like us really, so the emphasis will be on keeping the ball and making sure we’re accurate when we have it, and when we don’t, working hard for each other on defence and trying to take care of them when they’re on attack.”

While the Cheetahs have endured a disappointing Currie Cup campaign so far, last Saturday’s win over Griquas has moved them into fourth place on the log, and Bashford said they certainly would be an imposing opponent at home.

“Bloemfontein is never an easy place to go to and win, we’ve turned the tables recently on that though, having won there, but it is a tough place to play.

“They’re good at home, their mindset is to move the ball around and they offer threats all over with the style of rugby they play.”

However, the Sharks will also be looking to re-impose themselves on attack after having had to adopt a conservative kicking game due to the wet weather conditions in Durban last Friday night.

“We normally don’t play the way we’ve had to play the last two home games, that’s been forced by the weather conditions,” Bashford conceded.

“That’s not ideal, but what’s good is that we’ve been successful playing that kind of rugby and have been able to blend and adapt our style to suit the conditions.”

Bashford said they hadn’t heard anything from the Springbok camp and so weren’t expecting to get any players back for domestic duty this week.