Sharks aim to down Cheetahs to seal fourth
VETERAN Sharks wing Odwa Ndungane knows the high and the low road of reaching the play-off stage.
The autobahn is a smooth passage in the round-robin stages, but the Sharks’ form has been such that they need to take the twisty, dangerous mountain pass to ensure their 10-year record of qualifying for the Currie Cup semifinals remains unblemished.
Their next obstacle is the unpredictable, inconsistent Free State Cheetahs. The Sharks would fancy beating Franco Smith’s outfit, but the Sharks tend to bring the best out of the Bloemfontein side.
“People say you can’t buy experience and it rings true, especially for games like the one we will be playing on Saturday,” Ndungane said.
“The positive is that we’ve managed to keep the same team for the past couple of games.
“The Cheetahs are going to be a difficult proposition in Bloemfontein,” Ndungane said.
“The confidence (the Sharks) gained from beating Griquas (last Saturday) cannot be underestimated and that’s something the coach talked about after the game.
“Sharks teams have gone to Kimberley in the past and they’ve been on the wrong side of results. With the kind of season that we’ve been having, we knew the importance of the result (against Griquas) and the performance we put up on Saturday boosted us,” Ndungane said.
It is not often the Sharks go to the Cheetahs as underdogs, but with Gary Gold’s side chasing the all-important fourth spot, they will be keen on keeping their honour intact.
Ndungane knows they are under pressure to come back with a positive result, but he feels the Cheetahs are the favourites. “With the way our season has gone, it’s safe to say that we’re the underdogs going into Saturday’s game,” he said.
“We’re behind them on the log and they’re playing at home, which makes them very dangerous and by that default, the favourites. They’re still a good team and they play some very good rugby. We just need to do what we need to do,” Ndungane said.
Judged by their previous two results, against the Golden Lions and the Pumas, the Cheetahs have been a pale imitation of the dangerous side they can be. But as they showed in the games against the Blue Bulls and Western Province, they are a dangerous team when their stars are aligned.
With a -52 points difference, they will need to do all the running against the Sharks unit that just needs to win.