Sharks starting on a clean slate
UPWARD GRAPH: DU TOIT RETURN PROVIDES TIMELY BOOST
The Sharks have failed so far to touch the great heights they reached at the start of the year in Super Rugby, but when they host the Pumas in a Currie Cup fi xture tonight at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, they will be looking to start the new competition with a clean slate and with a slick performance.
The Sharks scraped to a onepoint win over Griquas, a team similar to the Pumas, in their last outing, but they won 42-19 in Nelspruit in their match there earlier this season, which will give them some confidence.
Apart from that disappointing display, and a loss to the champion Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, the Sharks’ graph has generally been upwards, however, and Springbok Thomas du Toit makes his return to the front row after injury to provide a timely boost to a scrum that has struggled at times.
The Pumas finished secondon the Super Rugby Unlocked log with their only victory coming in week two against Griquas in Kimberley, but they were unfortunate not to collect more points.
They have some big, heavy hitters and an enterprising backline means they are not easy to defend against.
The Pumas were particularly impressive in a narrow defeat to the powerhouse Stormers, so the Sharks will know it could be a very close contest.
The Pumas have been hard hit in recent weeks though by players testing positive for Covid-19, and that could affect their cohesion.
“Obviously our long-term goal is to win the Currie Cup, but we’re not going to win it if we don’t perform well, so our focus is just on the job at hand this weekend. It’s an opportunity for us to perform at our optimum, we’ve done really well at home this season, we’re unbeaten at Kings Park, Sharks coach Sean Everitt said.