Revived Sharks on the high road
IN THEIR HANDS: DU PREEZ’S MEN FACE A TRICKY FORCE
Coach preaching momentum from his side at King’s Park.
The Sharks are now well-positioned on the road to the Super Rugby quarterfinals after the impressive win over the Jaguares, but they now have to overcome the effects of travelling back from Argentina and a feisty Western Force team at King’s Park today if they are to maintain the momentum they have gradually built up in stops and starts.
The trip back from Argentina is the problem, which is why the majority of teams have sent their second-stringers into battle against the Jaguares away from home, but the Sharks, due to the importance of the game, used their first-choice squad and now most of those players have to reproduce the energy levels required to see off a Force team who have plenty of motivation themselves as they try to avoid the dreaded Super Rugby cut.
The Force have plenty of hard men up front in captain Matt Hodgson, former Sharks flank Brynard Stander and frontrankers Tatafu Polota-Nau and Pek Cowan, while there is pace and agility among the backs as well.
Sharks coach Robert du Preez described the Force as being “one of the better coached Australian teams” and the home side are going to need speed of mind and deed to beat Dave Wessels’ visitors.
The feeling that they owe their fans something after the awful draw against the Rebels a fortnight ago and the potential return off the bench of Pat Lambie should provide a lift for the Sharks.
There will be plenty of attention on how quickly Lambie gets back to speed, especially with rising star Curwin Bosch playing his last game for the Sharks before the international break as he is heading off to the Under-20 world championship with the Junior Springboks.
“Nobody wants to build momentum more than the players themselves. We went in against the Jaguares with the right attitude and there will be no slacking off. We know the tournament has thrown up some unexpected results lately and apart from the Force, we have matches against the Sunwolves and Southern Kings coming up, and they can all beat us if we don’t have the right attitude,” captain Philip van der Walt said.