Sharks ready to slow things down
SCRUMS TARGETED IN ELLIS PARK SHOWDOWN Durbanites vow to take Test match approach in their Super Rugby quarter against the rampant Lions.
The speed with which the Lions play their rugby is often their greatest strength, but the Sharks believe they can slow them down in their Super Rugby quarterfinal at Ellis Park on Saturday by raising their intensity and dragging the favourites into a more structured battle.
Last weekend’s game in Durban, which the Lions won 27-10, is no indication of how this weekend’s clash will go because the Sharks were actually better off losing that match, the defeat ensuring they make the short trip to Johannesburg for their quarterfinal rather than flying all the way to Christchurch to take on the Crusaders.
“We’re going to give it our all this weekend and the pressure is all on them,” rising star Thomas du Toit said. “We let them off a bit last weekend, but we won’t be doing that again. We have to really bring it on Saturday, but we won’t change the way we play.
“We’re a bit more conservative than the Lions, but we’ll be looking to up the intensity. We’re not going to play loose rugby, but very intense and structured rugby. It’s going to be like Test match rugby, it doesn’t matter how you win, it’s just the outcome that’s important.”
The loosehead prop added that one of the best ways to slow down the Lions will be through the scrums, where the Sharks had the edge in the first half last weekend.
“The scrum is their platform to play off and it’s ours’ as well, so we’ll be trying our hardest for the perfect base there and to disrupt their ball. You build a relationship on the field with the referee and you build the idea that you have dominance. But that can get broken when the reserves come on and our plan worked in the first half, but theirs’ worked in the second half,” Du Toit said.
Forwards coach Ryan Strudwick confirmed that there had been a limit to how passionately the team performed last weekend, given the unusual circumstances they were playing under, with a loss being better than a win.
“I don’t think it was sub-conscious, it was definitely there in the front of their minds, you could tell. In the first half, we really came out and played some good rugby and defended well. But when the chips were down in the second half, it was almost like the guys already knew the game was going to be there next weekend again,” Strudwick said.