Up-and-down Sharks need a victory

The Sharks have been decidedly flaky at their home lair of Kings Park this year, but they need victory over the Free State Cheetahs in Durban today as a matter of urgency if they are to defend their Currie Cup crown.

The Sharks were well-beaten by Griquas as they started their campaign at home, but then beat Western Province in Durban, before another upset loss, this time at the Pumas, set them back. Kings Park was no fortress in Super Rugby either, with the Sharks losing five of their eight home games, including a thrashing by the Jaguares and defeats to teams like the Stormers and Reds, neither of whom made the play-offs.

“We’ve had too many poor performances at home and the fans deserve a good performance now. We’ve had a hard look at ourselves and where we slipped up, we’ve been really honest with each other. We just want to make sure that we keep growing. Free State are a really good side, who’ve had a very good run, they have a very physical pack and a good set-piece, so we obviously want to counter that and defend really well,” Sharks flank Phendulani Buthelezi (pictured) said this week.

“It’s a short competition, but we feel we’re in with a shout still,” coach Sean Everitt said. “But we need a performance now and it has to be of the same standard as against Western Province. Despite the loss last weekend, there were positives in the first half against the Pumas, we played with a lot of effort and energy.”

Scrumhalf Cameron Wright said they were far from their best in the second half against the Pumas, something they have to fix if they are to beat the Cheetahs.

“The wheels fell off a bit in the second half, we lacked composure. We spoke about an 80-minute performance but we didn’t manage to pull it through. Our discipline and handling errors cost us and we didn’t respect the ball or the opposition enough. We didn’t come out in the second half with the same intensity and focus. It was maybe down to attitude because we thought we were on top at the break.

“In the first 20 minutes we were up for it, so you can’t necessarily question the effort, in fact we were maybe over-eager, going in on the ball when we shouldn’t have and throwing 50/50 passes. Free State will also be hurting and they will come at us, they have an expansive game married with physicality, and we pride ourselves on our physicality. We picked it up in the first half against the Pumas,” Wright said.