It’s down to the wire for the Sharks

THE Sharks tackle the Jaguares at the Shark tank this Saturday. Their defeat last week to the Stormers complicated things, but should the Sharks win through to the Super Rugby play-offs, they would not be daunted by the prospect of a trip to New Zealand.

However, for the Sharks to qualify for what many would consider the bogey prize of a trip to Christchurch for a quarterfinal against the Crusaders, the Rebels would need to lose to the Highlanders in their last game and the Sharks would have to beat the Jaguares in Durban.

A Highlanders win is likely, so the Sharks can prepare for the Jaguares game as if it was yet another final for them, but there are some potential spokes in the wheel.

For a start, the injury that kept Jean-Luc du Preez from travelling to Newlands this past weekend is likely to keep him out of the Jaguares match.

And the chances of his twin brother, Dan, playing are virtually nil. No 8 Dan was in hospital having a neck injury scanned after the Stormers match, which was why it was Dick Muir, the Sharks assistant coach, and not head coach Robert du Preez, Dan’s father, who faced the media after the 27-16 defeat to the Stormers.

Muir admits that the inconsistency that has blighted their season, with the tendency to be patchy over 80 minutes being matched on the macro level by an alarming trend of being good one week and bad the next, is something that needs to be addressed. “We have grown this year, but maybe not fast enough. It all comes down to this week and whether or not we make the play-offs. If we fail to make the play-offs, it will be very disappointing,” said the former Springbok centre.

Muir, though, is convinced that while the squad has much to work on, and he agrees history will be firmly against the Sharks, the players will not be daunted by the prospect of travelling to Christchurch for a quarter-final should they get there.

Muir reckons the key to the Sharks’ chances of winning in New Zealand would lie in handling the Kiwi rush defence system better than the other South African sides.

Another potential injury concern for the Sharks ahead of their final league game is that of Springbok wing S’bu Nkosi.

The Sharks confirmed after the Stormers game that Nkosi was also away, undergoing scans for a sore ankle.