Battered Sharks look to put away Rebels
The weary Sharks will mostly have to front up again on Saturday against the Rebels because there are few fresh troops available, notably Springbok halfbacks Patrick Lambie and Cobus Reinach.
Neither will feature for the Sharks over their remaining three weeks of the competition. Next week they have an eagerly awaited bye and then they finish at home to the Stormers.
Another injured Springbok, PieterSteph du Toit, is targeting the Currie Cup to gain some game time before the Rugby World Cup in September.
Better news is that Ryan Kankowski and Tera Mtembu were on hand to bolster the loose forward depth, centre Paul Jordaan is on the comeback trail after his horrific hip fracture last year, and halfback Stefan Ungerer appears to be okay.
The latter was one of the “finds” of the recent tour and left the field against the Reds last week in some discomfort after scoring the decisive try, but it was just cramp.
Centre Frans Steyn was another to leave the field in Brisbane in pain and his availability will depend on the result of a scan on a pectoral injury.
Lock Stefan Lewies was carted off the field with a knee injury and the sight of him on crutches last night would suggest his Super Rugby race is run for this year.
Backline coach Sean Everitt said the players were desperate to build on their drought-breaking win against the Reds.
“We feel we’ve let our fans down this season and we’re disappointed with some of our performances so we want to finish on a good note,” he said. “We’ve got two home games left and we certainly want to give our spectators something to cheer about.”
The hard-fought victory over the Queenslanders ended a six-match losing streak that included good performances in narrow tour losses to the Waratahs and Hurricanes.
“That win at the weekend was great for us purely from the fact that the guys have been putting the effort in week to week and maybe not getting the reward they deserved,” Everitt said. “From that point of view, a positive result always helps; it takes off a bit of pressure for a couple of days at least. The guys will know within themselves that they are improving and are capable of getting results.”
The Rebels are coming off a loss to the Stormers and have had a mixed season that has included some big scalps, the Crusaders among them.
“The Rebels are a good outfit and very well coached,” Everitt said. ‘‘They’re going to come here hoping to finish their tour on a good note and we’re under no illusions as to what they are capable of.’’